The Emory track and field teams concluded its Emory Thrills in the Hills meet on Saturday afternoon, picking up seven individual event wins, four relay wins and several Eagles set personal best times and distances. Following the meet, Emory held its Senior Day festivities to honor its senior class.
Highlighting the day for the Eagles was graduate student Nikki Boon in the discus event. Boon recorded a program-record distance of 43.07m to break the previous record of 42.60m, a record that had not been touched since 1989. Freshman Mable Mutumwa also took home a win on the field, winning the women's javelin with a distance of 37.43m. Another freshman impressed as well, with Hannah Riley finishing second in the pole vault with a height of 3.45m.
The women had a solid day on the track as well, with two individual event wins. Senior Amaya Martin celebrated her senior day in style, winning the 100m hurdles with a dazzling time of 14.75 and setting a new personal best in the process. Also claiming an individual win was junior Audrey Johnson, who set a new personal best in the 100m with a time of 11.81. Her time on Saturday was the third-fastest in program history. Emory had a strong showing in the 400m as well with junior Mina Leopold finishing third with her new personal-best (1:00.18) and freshman Hannah Riley finishing fourth (1:00.28). The Eagles boasted the second and third place finishers in the 800m as well, with junior Madison Tiaffay (2:16.27) and senior Lily Taylor (2:20.73) earning silver and bronze, respectively.
The women won two relay races on top of the individual wins, taking home gold in the 4x100m and the 4x800m. Boon, alongside juniors Dashiel Tao Harris, Audrey Johnson and Kaya Binetti took first in the 4x100m with a time of 47.24. The 4x800m team of senior Elle Haushalter, freshman Elizabeth Csikai, junior Liesl Scherrer and freshman Payton Fleming took first in the 4x800m with a time of 9:49.85.
The men were once again led on the track by junior Jackson Price, who took home a first-place finish in the 100m finals with a time of 10.64. Price narrowly edged out his teammate, junior Sam Ryba, who came in second with a time of 10.69. Senior Dawit Dean also took first in the 800m, recording a time of 1:52.92. Senior Spencer Watry was right on Dean's heels, finishing second in the 800m with a time of 1:53.10.
On the field, freshman Olivier Jawornicki won the event and set a new personal-best in the javelin with a distance of 50.76m. Sophomore Steven Ditelberg had a solid day in the pole vault, finishing fourth with a height of 4.30m.
The men dominated the relay races, taking first through third in the 4x800m as well as taking gold in the 4x100m. The relay team consisting of freshman Hiromu Sakuma and juniors Turner Goetsch, Patrick Latting and Ben Zamler was the top team in the 4x800m, winning with a time of 8:10.42. Meanwhile, the 4x100m team of Price, Ryba, sophomore Henry Brandstadter and freshman Graham Greene took first with a time of 41.72.
The Eagles will be back in action next week, with the teams heading to two separate meets. Some will head to Southern Wesleyan's Gotta Run Invite, with others heading to the Kennesaw State University Invitational. Both will take place on Friday, March 29th.