Emory University freshman Debora Adjibaba was named both the University Athletic Association's (UAA) Most Outstanding Performer in running events and the Rookie of the Year, while senior Ian Francis was named the Most Outstanding Performer in field events, following their performances at last weekend's conference championship meet in Pittsburgh, PA.

In addition, Emory head coach John Curtin and assistants Mark Johnson, Carl Leivers, Madeleine Outman, and Pedro Vasquez were tabbed as the Women's Coaching Staff of the Year, marking the third-straight year and eighth time overall that the Eagles' staff has garnered the honor for the women's outdoor season.  Curtin and his staff led Emory to its third-straight UAA Outdoor Women's Championship, besting second-place Washington University (Mo.) by 25 points.

Adjibaba claimed University Athletic Association (UAA) titles in four events, setting new conference records in three, at the UAA Championships.  She broke the conference record in the 100-meter dash, winning the event with a time of 12.17 seconds, the 13th-fastest time in Division III this season.  She added an individual title in the 200-meter dash with an event-winning time of 25.44 seconds.  Adjibaba was also a part of two conference-record setting relays, running the anchor leg of the Eagles' 4x100-meter relay (47.17 seconds) and the leadoff leg of the 4x400-meter relay (3:53.57).  The 4x100-meter relay's time ranks as the third-fastest in school history and the fourth-best mark in Division III this season.

Adjibaba becomes just the second woman in UAA Outdoor Track and Field history to garner both Most Valuable Performer and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season, joining Carnegie Mellon University's Jacqueline Guevel, who accomplished the feat in 2011.   She was named the UAA Rookie of the Year during the indoor season as well.

Adjibaba is seventh UAA Most Outstanding Performer in the team's history, and the second to claim the honor for her performance in running events (prior to 2005, separate awards were not given to running event and field event performers).  She is the second outdoor Rookie of the Year in the program's history, joining Alix Dyer, who won the honor during the 2009 season.

Francis won three conference titles for the Eagles last weekend.  He won the long jump on the first day with a career-best leap of 7.10 meters, the seventh-longest mark in school history and the 21st-best mark in Division III this season.  On the second day of competition, he won the triple jump with a distance of 14.82 meters, just a hundredth of a second short of the UAA record and ranking as the second-best mark in school history and sixth-best Division III leap this season.  Francis also ran the second leg of the Eagles' winning 4x100-meter relay team, which finished in a time of 42.82 seconds, and finished second as part of Emory's 4x400-meter relay (3:20.68).  He accounted for 22.5 of Emory's 111 points at the meet, helping the team to a fifth-place finish.

Emory will resume competition this weekend, traveling to Clemson University on Saturday, May 5^th for the Bob Pollock Spring Invitational.