Powered by sophomore Daniel Pietsch's National Championship winning performance in the 400m Dash, the Emory University Men's Track & Field had its highest finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since 2008, placing 23rd with 11 points.
Pietsch's title in the event is the first ever Emory outdoor national championship in a track event and just the second ever by an Eagles male athlete after Troy Thompson captured gold in the triple jump at the 1995 NCAA Championships. Pietsch erased a sizeable deficit over the last stretch of the win to place first with a school-record time of 46.92, narrowly edging out Monmouth (Ill.)'s James Wilson by just .05 seconds.
Along with Pietsch, senior Lukas Mees also earned All-America acclaim at the 2016 NCAA Championships, improving upon last year' 17th place showing to finish 8th in the 3000m Steeplechase at this year's championship meet.
Earlier in the season, the Eagles came in fourth place at the University Athletic Association Championships held at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Emory claimed four event titles and 11 All-UAA finishes to earn 124.5 points at the meet.
Winning event titles for the Eagles were Pietsch in the 400m Dash, Mees in the 3000m Steeplechase, senior Jacob Seigel in the Discus and sophomore Benjamin Rogin in the 100m Hurdles. Three of the four event championships marked consecutive winners as Pietsch, Mees and Seigel won their respective events at the 2015 UAA Championships with Seigel also being a three-time winner as he was crowned the 2014 UAA Discus Champion as well.
In addition to the four UAA Champions, senior Spencer Koh (4x100m and 4x400m Relays), juniors Ian McIsaac (4x400m Relay) and Kyle Veator (Long Jump, 4x100m and 4x400m Relays) and sophomores Max Brown (1500m Run), Max Helfman (4x100m Relay), Charlie Hu (Triple Jump) all earned All-UAA honors for the Eagles.
To go along with Pietsch's school-record setting time at the NCAA Championships, two other Emory records fell during the 2016 season. Mees shattered his previous record in the 3000m Steeplechase with a time seven seconds faster (9:03.27) and Seigel posted a mark of 14.82m in the shot put at the UAA Championships to take hold of the top spot in the Emory record books.
In other scored meets of the 2016 regular season, Emory finished first at the Emory Classic, third at both the Berry Field Day and Mount Laurel Invitationals and fourth at the Emory Invitational.
Five Eagles were also recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for their work in the classroom as well as their accomplishments in the performance arena. Mees and Pietsch were selected as Academic All-Americans with Mees making the First Team and Pietsch earning a nod on the Second Team. The pair along with Brown, Rogin and Seigel were all named to the Academic All-District Team.
The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2016 season:
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NCAA Division III National Champion |
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Daniel Pietsch |
Kula, HI (Seabury Hall) |
400m Dash |
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All-America (Top-8 Finisher at NCAA Division III Championships) |
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Daniel Pietsch |
Kula, HI (Seabury Hall) |
400m Dash (1st) |
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Lukas Mees |
Marion, IA (Marion) |
3000m Steeplechase (8th) |
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NCAA Division III Championship Participant |
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Daniel Pietsch |
Kula, HI (Seabury Hall) |
400m Dash |
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Lukas Mees |
Marion, IA (Marion) |
3000m Steeplechase |
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South/Southeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year (USTFCCCA) |
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Lance Harden |
2nd season |
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USTFCCCA South/Southeast All-Region (Top 5 in Respective Event) |
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Max Brown |
Warren, NJ (Watchung Hills) |
800m Run |
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Spencer Koh |
Southlake, TX (Singapore American School) |
Javelin |
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Lukas Mees |
Marion, IA (Marion) |
3000m Steeplechase |
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Daniel Pietsch |
Kula, HI (Seabury Hall) |
200m Dash, 400m Dash |
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Jacob Seigel |
St. Louis, MO (Parkway West) |
Shot Put |
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Johns Creek, GA (Mt. Pisgah Christian) |
5000m Run |
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UAA Champion |
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Lukas Mees |
Marion, IA (Marion) |
3000m Steeplechase |
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Daniel Pietsch |
Kula, HI (Seabury Hall) |
400m Dash |
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Benjamin Rogin |
Highland Park, IL (Highland Park) |
110m Hurdles |
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Jacob Seigel |
St. Louis, MO (Parkway West) |
Discus |
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All-UAA (Top-3 Finisher at UAA Championships) |
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Max Brown |
Warren, NJ (Watchung Hills) |
1500m Run (3rd) |
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Max Helfman |
Watchung, NJ (Pingry) |
4x100m Relay (2nd) |
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Charlie Hu |
Shanghai, China (Shanghai American School) |
Triple Jump (3rd) |
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Spencer Koh |
Southlake, TX (Singapore American School) |
4x100m Relay (2nd), 4x400m Relay (3rd) |
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Ian McIsaac |
Princeton, NJ (Princeton) |
4x400m Relay (3rd) |
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Lukas Mees |
Marion, IA (Marion) |
3000m Steeplechase (1st) |
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Daniel Pietsch |
Kula, HI (Seabury Hall) |
400m Dash (1st), 200m Dash (2nd), 4x100m Relay (2nd), 4x400m Relay (3rd) |
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Benjamin Rogin |
Highland Park, IL (Highland Park) |
110m Hurdles (1st) |
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Jacob Seigel |
St. Louis, MO (Parkway West) |
Discus (1st), Shot Put (2nd) |
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Kyle Veator |
Potomac, MD (Winston Churchill) |
4x100m Relay (2nd), Long Jump (3rd), 4x400m Relay (3rd) |
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CoSIDA Academic All-America |
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Lukas Mees |
Marion, IA (Marion) |
First Team |
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Daniel Pietsch |
Kula, HI (Seabury Hall) |
Second Team |
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CoSIDA Academic All-District |
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Max Brown |
Warren, NJ (Watchung Hills) |
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Lukas Mees |
Marion, IA (Marion) |
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Daniel Pietsch |
Kula, HI (Seabury Hall) |
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Benjamin Rogin |
Highland Park, IL (Highland Park) |
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Jacob Seigel |
St. Louis, MO (Parkway West) |
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UAA Athlete of the Week |
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Spencer Koh |
Southlake, TX (Singapore American School) |
April 4th |
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Lukas Mees |
Marion, IA (Marion) |
April 4th, May 17th |
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Daniel Pietsch |
Kula, HI (Seabury Hall) |
March 21st, May 31st |
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Jacob Seigel |
St. Louis, MO (Parkway West) |
March 21st |
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The following were the top marks by Emory athletes during the 2016 season:
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100m Dash |
Daniel Pietsch |
11.01 |
Emory Classic |
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200m Dash |
Daniel Pietsch |
21.63 |
UAA Championships |
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400m Dash |
Daniel Pietsch |
46.92* |
NCAA Championships |
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800m Run |
Max Brown |
1:53.36 |
UAA Championships |
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1500m Run |
Max Brown |
3:56.09 |
UAA Championships |
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3000m Run |
Shane Sullivan |
8:45.89 |
Mountain Laurel Invitational |
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5000m Run |
Shane Sullivan |
14:54.34 |
VertKlasse Meeting |
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10000m Run |
32:52.97 |
UAA Championships |
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110m Hurdles |
Benjamin Rogin |
14.95 |
Kentucky Relays |
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400m Hurdles |
Benjamin Rogin |
55.68 |
Emory Classic |
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3000m Steeplechase |
Lukas Mees |
9:03.27* |
Dr. Keeler Invitational |
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High Jump |
Charlie Hu |
1.85m |
Emory Invitational |
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Pole Vault |
Spencer Koh |
4.45m |
Berry Field Day Invitational |
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Long Jump |
Kyle Veator |
6.60m |
UAA Championships |
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Triple Jump |
Charlie Hu |
13.36m |
UAA Championships |
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Shot Put |
Jacob Seigel |
14.82m* |
UAA Championships |
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Discus |
Jacob Seigel |
44.56m |
UAA Championships |
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Hammer |
39.44m |
UAA Championships |
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Javelin |
Spencer Koh |
52.82m |
Berry Field Day Invitational |
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4x100m Relay |
Kyle Veator, Spencer Koh, Max Helfman, Daniel Pietsch |
42.18 |
UAA Championships |
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4x400m Relay |
Spencer Koh, Ian McIsaac, Kyle Veator, Daniel Pietsch |
3:19.07 |
UAA Championships |
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4x800m Relay |
Max Brown, Josh Traynelis, Ian McIsaac, Robert Wilhelm III |
7:51.97 |
Emory Classic |
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DMR |
Michael McBane, Winston Leung, Jake Schlessinger, Shane Sullivan |
10:34.18 |
Emory Invitational |
* - Indicates Emory record