The Emory track and field teams competed in the second meet of the outdoor season last weekend when they hosted the Emory Classic. Both the men’s and women’s teams took first place at the meet, thanks to a series of strong individual performances as well as five victories in the relay events.
Head Coach John Curtin was pleased with not only the team’s finishes, but also the large number of personal bests recorded by Emory athletes during the meet.
“The performances were really good overall, and we saw maybe 10 or 11 personal bests out there,” Curtin said. “We’ve had a bunch [in] the last two weeks, and PRs in March don’t usually happen. Typically, they come later in the season when they the kids are peaking for postseason. They have really taken first two home meets head on, and I am thrilled with what we have seen so far.”
The men’s team beat visiting Hope College (Mich.) by 13 points to take first place, partly due to four individual first place finishes as well as two victories in relay events. Sophomore Max Brown won the 1500m run with a time of 3:58.79, and junior Michael McBane’s time of 15:22.29 in the 5000m run was also good enough for the top spot. The 4x400m relay team of senior Spencer Koh, juniors Kyle Veator and Ian McIsaac and sophomore Daniel Pietsch took first place with a time of 3:21.62. Brown and McIsaac were also a part of the winning 4x800m team, also consisting of senior Josh Traynelis and sophomore Robert Wilhelm III. Sophomore Benjamin Rogin claimed second and third place in the 110m and 400m hurdles with times of 15.49 and 55.68, respectively.
The men’s team performed well in field events, as Koh won the pole vault with a mark of 4.00m to mark his second victory of the weekend. Senior Jacob Seigel won the discus with a distance of 43.65m, building on his win from last week at the Emory Invitational. Freshman Zachary Lembersky placed second in the discus with a throw of 39.25m, which Curtin called “excellent.”
The women’s team cruised to a victory, scoring 76 more points than the next closest team, Jacksonville State University (Ala.).
The team won three individual events and swept the three relay events. The sophomore trio of Erica Goldman, Megan Waples and Abigail Hotaling won the 400m dash, 5000m run and 3000m steeplechase, respectively. Sophomore Gabrielle Stravach finished third in the 1500m run with a time of 4:42.61. Emory took second and third in the 10,000m run thanks to senior Aileen Rivell and junior Sophie Cemaj, who finished with times of 38:32.55 and 39:13.35, respectively. Cemaj’s performance was good for a personal best.
“I was pretty happy with my performance,” Cemaj said. “While I didn't have the best second half of the race, I think with more training and a second race I can fix that and hopefully be competitive for our conference meet.”
The women’s team was dominant in all three of their relay events. The 4x100m team of senior Alexandra Aiello, sophomore Julia Levanthal and freshmen Dilys Osei and Dani Brand won with a time of 48.75. Osei and Levanthal were also a part of the 4x400m team, which posted a time of 3:53.94. The other two members of the 4x400m team were freshman Arianna Newhouse and sophomore Erica Goldman. Finally, the 4x800m team of junior Alexa Youn, freshmen Kayla O’Shea and Radhika Shah and Williamson won with a time of 9:22.54. Curtin was “blown away” by O’Shea’s performance at the meet.
“Kayla [O’Shea] has completely blown away her performances in high school,” Curtin said. “She is running at an entirely different level and made improvements in 800m that are unheard of.”
Curtin also spoke about the depth of the team, especially in running events, that is exhibited in strong relay performances and why this depth is important as the season progresses.
“Right now, we have more depth than we have ever had, and in the running events we are especially deep,” Curtin said. “The strength of this group fosters competition within the team. It tells you we have a good, deep group, and a team needs depth. No team gets through a season unscathed from injury, and we will need quality people to step in.”
The Emory men’s and women’s track and field teams will continue their season next weekend when they travel to High Point University (N.C.) to compete in the Vertklasse Meet on April 1 and 2.
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