Senior Annika Urban celebrates with Emory University Track and Field Head Coach Linh Nguyen after winning her second national title this year. (Courtesy of Annika Urban)
The Emory University men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the 2023 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 25-27. Their efforts garnered 10 All-America honors, and senior Annika Urban won her second national title of the year with a first-place finish in the 1500-meter race.
Men’s 4×100-meter relay team places seventh, Price places eighth in 200-meter dash
The Championships began with an All-America performance from freshman Henry Brandstadter, who recorded a long jump of 7.30 meters in the preliminary round and distances of 7.16 meters, 6.88 meters and 7.27 meters in the final round. He capped off a record-breaking rookie season by placing fifth in the event.
In the 4×100-meter relay final, Brandstadter, senior Thomas Davis and sophomores Jackson Price and Sam Ryba finished seventh with a time of 41.34 seconds and secured All-America honors. In the 200-meter dash final, Price placed eighth with a time of 21.66 seconds and earned another All-America honor.
Despite the team earning All-American honors this season, Ryba believes the team can still improve their performances next year.
“Even though we were All-Americans, our finals race was not a race that any of us were particularly happy with,” Ryba said. “We saw the time, we talked amongst ourselves to see what went wrong in that race. We could definitely go much higher next year.”
Price added that next year’s squad will have to adapt after losing Davis and run faster times if they want to place higher. According to him, the team will accomplish those goals by working hard in the offseason.
“We had a great year this year, and we performed better than we were supposed to,” Price said. “But, I think I could say for everyone that we all want more. Personally, I definitely want more. I think setting time for the entire season is gonna be big for next year and this offseason, just really grinding, because I think we all want more.”
Emory’s 4×100-meter relay team, freshman Henry Brandstadter, sophomore Sam Ryba, senior Thomas and sophomore Jackson Price, placed seventh at the 2023 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field and earned All-America honors. (Courtesy of Sam Ryba)
Urban takes first in the 1500-meter race, women’s 4×100-meter relay team places fifth
Junior Hannah Bodus and sophomores Dashiel Tao Harris, Audrey Johnson and Kaya Binetti kicked off podium finishes for the women’s team with a season-best time of 46.72 seconds in the preliminary heat of the 4×100-meter relay and a fifth-place finish.
Bodus attributed the squad’s strong performance to the teamwork they built during the entire outdoor season.
“We were really united,” Bodus said. “The way we were interacting with each other, the way we were generally concerned and considerate when it came to each other and how they were feeling, just being really in tune with one another. That was a big aspect of the team.”
The 4×100-meter relay team finished strong, setting a program record time of 46.19 seconds. The team came in fifth place and earned All-American honors. Bodus said the result in the final was a representation of their hard work all season.
“Finishing the [4×100-meter relay] was definitely this coursing feeling of achievement,” Bodus said. “I was really excited, especially excited to celebrate this moment with my team. We’ve been working so hard all season, so I felt really accomplished and proud.”
Urban capped off the final events for the Eagles with the 1500-meter and 5000-meter runs. In the former, Urban led all the runners for the entire race. Although University of Chicago junior Maddie Kelly sprinted the final 100 meters, Urban maintained her spot at the front of the pack and came in first with a time of 4:22.16. The victory marked her first outdoor national title and second national title this year.
According to Urban, her strategy going into the 1500-meter race was to go with the flow and focus on building an early lead. Despite knowing it was going to be “a competitive race,” Urban said she also had to consider saving her energy for the 5000-meter race she had later that day.
“I wanted to feel the race out, be in the mix and let the race play out,” Urban said. “I am pretty confident in my kick at the end of my races, and so I knew that if I was there at the front by the end, I would be able to pull out the win in the end.”
Later that day, Urban finished in fifth place in the 5000-meter race with a time of 16:46.50. Urban noted that she did not think about the race being her last collegiate one until it was over.
“Obviously, that was in the back of my head,” Urban said. “But while I’m racing, I’m just getting through it and enjoying the race. I wasn’t worrying too much about the whole last-race-thing until after.”
When reflecting on her storied running career at Emory, Urban said she was grateful for her teammates and “incredible experience” and credited her coaches in particular for helping her go the extra mile.
Urban reflected on going to nationals her freshman year, where she placed 266th and noted how that performance drove her to have “bigger goals.”
“I really trusted my coaches and my training and decided that I wanted this to be a big part of my life, and I wanted to be really good at it,” Urban said. “Once I made that decision, trusting that all of my work and everything I was doing would help me get better made it really happen.”
Senior Annika Urban competes in the 1500-meter race at the 2023 Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 27. She placed first in the 1500-meter and fifth in the 5000-meter race. (Courtesy of Annika Urban)
Clement Lee (he/him) (24Ox) is from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is on the pre-BBA track. Outside the Wheel, Clement can be found reading new books or going on long runs in the woods.
