Returning to action for the first time since December, the Emory University women's track and field team recorded a second-place finish at the Cardinal Opener at North Central College in Naperville, IL on Friday, while the men's squad finished fourth.
The Emory women totaled 124.5 points during the meet, finishing second out of five schools behind host school North Central (210 points). The University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh finished third with 121 points.
With only sprinters and jumpers competing, Emory claimed first-place finishes in five different women's events. Freshman Debora Adjibaba won the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.01 seconds in the finals, and was followed by teammates Gabrielle Clark in second place (8.12 seconds in the preliminaries) and Kaele Leonard (8.14 seconds).
Senior Alix Dyer won the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.34 seconds, while Adjibaba finished second in the event with a time of 27.18. Leonard also won the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.21, while senior Lauren Attiah won the triple jump with a distance of 11.28 meters. The final first-place finish of the day for the women came from Emory's 4x400-meter relay team of Adjibaba, Clark, Leonard and Dyer, which won the event with a time of 4:05.60.
Other top marks for the Emory women came from senior Jasmine McCullough in the 60-meter hurdles (9.49 seconds), Attiah in the high jump (1.57 meters), freshman Miriam Cash in the pole vault (2.75 meters) and junior Theresa Ford in the long jump (5.20 meters).
On the men's side, the Eagles, also with only sprinters and jumpers competing, scored 40 points during the course of the Cardinal Opener to place fourth. North Central also won the men's portion of the meet with 347 points scored.
For the Emory men, senior Ian Francis won the long jump with a career best distance of 6.81 meters. Freshman Gui Silva, competing in his first meet for Emory, added a pair of top finishes for the team, claiming third-place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.46 seconds, and fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.37 seconds in the finals.
Senior Ben Euwer turned in a strong performance in the throws, reaching a distance of 13.61 meters in the shot put, the eighth-best mark in the program's history and good for a 10th-place finish. Euwer also finished 10th in the weight throw with a distance of 12.44 meters.
The Eagles will be back in action next week, taking part in the Birmingham Invitational on Thursday, January 26th, and the Clemson Invitational on Friday, January 27th and Saturday, January 28th.
Emory Women Finish 2nd at Cardinal Opener; Men Claim Fourth-Place
Posted: Jan 20, 2012