2004 Men's Outdoor Track & Field Season Recap

Emory University finished 10th at the NCAA national outdoor championships, the highest finish in school history. The previous best was 15th at the 1994 championships.

A school-record four Eagles earned All-America honors. The previous record was three in 1994. This year's All-Americans are T.J. Jennings, Chris Nehls, Blake Staub and Wesley Thomas.

Jennings attained All-America status (top-eight finish) in three events, breaking another school record. The previous mark for All-America citations in a meet was two, set by Gerry Reece in 1989.

Jennings was fourth in the 100-meter dash and sixth in the 200-meter dash. He teamed up with Nehls, Staub and Thomas to help the Emory finish fifth in the 4x100 relay.

Nehls was fourth in the 110-meter hurdles, becoming an All-American in that event for the third time in his career. The only time he missed was last year when he came into the NCAA meet with the fastest time but was knocked down in his preliminary heat.

Nehls ends his career with a total of four outdoor All-America certificates, tying the school record set by Troy Thompson (1994-97), who was a four-time All-American in the triple jump.

This is the first time an Emory relay has received All-America honors. The quartet was timed in 41.43 seconds in the preliminary heat, a season-best time and the third best in school history.

Jennings ran a 10.76 in the preliminaries of the 100 dash, the fourth-best time in school history. Coupled with his school-record setting performance earlier this season, Jennings now owns five of the top six times in Emory history in the 100 dash.

Nehls had the fastest time, 14.24, among all competitors in the 110 hurdles preliminaries. That was a season best and the second best in school history behind his own record set last year. Nehls owns all of the top 10 times in the Emory record book in this event.

Nehls had a 53.48 in the 400-meter hurdles, the second best ever by an Eagle, behind his own record set earlier this season.

In addition to their All-America performances, Nehls was 10th in the 400 hurdles and Jennings was 11th in the long jump. Neither advanced to the finals in those events.

This is the first time Jennings, Staub and Thomas made the All-America team. Of the four All-Americans, only Staub returns next season.

Emory won the University Athletic Association outdoor championships for the third time in the last four years. The Eagles won eight individual events and one relay. There were a total of 18 all-UAA performances.

Jennings was named the meet's Most Outstanding Performer. Jennings won the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and the long jump, and ran on the conference champion 4x100-meter relay team. He earned all-UAA honors in seven total events.

Chris Nehls won the 110-meter hurdles for the fourth time with a season-best time of 14.42 seconds. He is just the second Eagle athlete and the fourth in UAA history to win an event all four years at the outdoor conference championships.

Teammate Euler Bropleh finished second with a time of 14.78 seconds. This time provisionally qualified Bropleh for the NCAA national meet.

Nehls also finished second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.16 seconds. This time broke his own school record, the UAA conference record, and provisionally qualified him for the NCAA national meet.

In field events, Josh Heiber won the shot put and discus with throws of 14.47 meters (47-5 3/4) and 42.24 meters (138-7) respectively. Heiber's throw in the shot put broke the outdoor school record. Heiber now holds the indoor and outdoor school records for shot put. He also finished second in the hammer throw with a throw of 44.45 meters (145-10). Heiber narrowly missed becoming the second athlete in UAA history to win the shot put, discus throw, and hammer throw.

Rob Bullard won the high jump with a season-best jump of 2.05 meters (6-8 3/4). Bullard also won this event at the 2003 conference championships.

In distance events, Rob Leventhal won the 800-meter run with a time of 1 minute and 55.67 seconds. This is the eighth time in the past 11 years an Emory runner has won the 800-meter run. Teammate Seth Crislip finished second in the event with a time of 1:56.02.

Phil Hagedorn earned all-UAA honors in two events. He finished third in the 5,000-meter run with a career best time of 14:53.14 and second in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 31:35.41.

In relays, the 4 x 100-meter relay team of Jennings, Nehls, Staub, and Thomas finished first with a time of 41.58 seconds. This time broke the UAA and stadium records and provisionally qualified the quartet for the NCAA championships. The 4 x 400-meter relay team of Nehls, Crislip, Bullard, and Jennings finished second with a time of 3:17.95. This time broke the UAA and stadium records.

Emory finished 29th in the nation in NCAA Division III in the final power ratings conducted on behalf of the U.S. Track Coaches Association. The power ratings measure the quality and depth of a team's roster.

This is the seventh time in the poll's eight-year history that Emory has finished in the top 35 nationally in Division III. Emory was the highest rated team in the South region with a power rating of 188.26.

Below is a listing of some individual honors: