For the third straight week, the Emory track and field team traveled to the Birmingham CrossPlex, this time for the KMS Invitational Jan. 28, hosted by the University of New Orleans (La.). Though the invitational was not scored, it offered Emory athletes valuable experience in a championship facility, which will help them prepare for future races such as the national championship in March.
In the mile run, senior captain Gabrielle Stravach posted a 5:04.65 mark, placing third overall. On top of that performance, she set a personal-best time in the 800m with a time of 2:15.89. Freshman Andi Breitowich reached a height of 3.35m on the pole vault, the fifth-highest mark in school history.
In the high jump, junior Jordan Small tied her personal-best at 1.60m. Junior Dani Bland also tied her season-best in the 60m dash with a time of 7.95.
On the men’s side, there were a number of key performers. Senior Benjamin Rogin competed in the finals of the 60m hurdles finishing No. 6 with a time of 8.42. Freshman Liam Fost tied his season-best time of 50.49. The pair were joined by sophomores Aria Mohseni and Alex Rand to finish No. 9 in the 4x400m relay. Junior Zachary Lembersky finished 16th with a season-best distance of 10.94m in the shot put.
Head Coach John Curtin said that the team is focusing on getting into shape after a month-long break.
“Right now, we’re training through these competitions,” Curtin said. “We’re training for our best. That’s the focus. We had a month off [and] a lot of the flu is going around. [But] we’re seeing some strong performances and it’s looking good.”
The Eagles will compete in both the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Buccaneer Invitational Feb. 2-3 and the Sewanee Tiger Indoor Invitational Feb. 3. The long distance runners will be at will be competing at ETSU while the rest of the team will be at Sewanee.
