Emory University opened its 2015 outdoor track and field season on a strong note, with the men's program finishing first and the women's squad third at the Emory Invitational at the Woodruff Physical Education Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

The men scored 96 points during the two day event to finish atop the 28-team field.  Albany State finished in second place with 80 points, followed by Cedarville in third with 67.

Emory's women totaled 80 points, finishing behind Jacksonville State (100.5 points) and Cedarville (96 points).

For the men, the first day of the meet was highlighted by a school-record setting performance from the Eagles' distance medley relay team of freshman Max Brown, sophomore Ian McIsaac, junior Josh Traynelis and freshman Shane Sullivan, who won the event with a time of 10:26.16.  Junior Adam Rabushka added a first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.56 seconds, while senior James Bassen recorded a distance of 57.73 meters to win the javelin throw, the fifth-best mark in school history and the second-best of his career.

On the second day for the Emory men, sophomore Grant Murphy finished third in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:53.15, the 10^th-fastest time in the event in school history.  Adding a pair of scoring finishes in individual events was freshman Daniel Pietsch, who was the runner-up in the 400-meter run with a time of 48.73 second and sixth in the 200-meter run with a mark of 22.71 seconds.  He also ran the anchor on the Eagles' 4x400-meter relay team, combining with senior Zachary Rosenberg, Rabushka, and junior Spencer Koh to finish second in a time of 3:19.99.

Emory claimed third in the men's 4x100-meter relay, with freshman Phillip Greenfield, junior Maxwell Hoberman, Koh and Rosenberg notching a mark of 42.69 seconds.  Freshman Benjamin Rogin claimed fifth in the 110-meter hurdle finals with a time of 15.50 seconds, and junior Jacob Seigel placed fourth in the discus throw with a toss of 42.75 meters.

After the Emory women's 4x800-meter relay team of senior Marissa Gogniat, senior Stephanie Crane, sophomore Alexa Young and junior Julie Williamson set a school record with a time 9:14.64 to finish second in the event, and senior Hannah Smith won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a mark of 11:19.87 on Friday, another two Eagles recorded top-10 times in school history on Saturday.

In the 800-meter run, Williamson finished third with a time of 2:14.46, a personal-best mark and the sixth-fastest time in school history.  In the 1,500-meter run, Gogniat claimed fourth place, finishing in a time of 4:42.55, the 10^th-fastest ever by an Eagle.

Freshman Erica Goldman won the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.25 seconds, and later ran the anchor leg of the 4x400-meter relay, along with senior Hannah Parra, Young and freshman Julia Leventhal which finished third with a time of 3:58.38.  Senior Elaina Kim was the runner-up in the pole vault, clearing the bar at a height of 3.17 meters, while senior Elise Viox finished fifth in the 5,000-meter run with a mark of 18:30.67.

Emory will continue its outdoor season next week, when the Eagles host their second of three meets at the Woodruff Physical Education Center, the Emory Classic on Friday, March 27^th and Saturday, March 28^th.