In its first road action of the 2010 outdoor track and field
season, Emory University turned in four NCAA provisional qualifying
marks while competing at the Duke Invitational and the Gem of the
Hills Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
Emory’s distance runners turned in a number of very strong
performances, while facing mostly Division I competition at the
Duke University Invitational. The men were paced by senior
Paul Winterhalter, who set a new school record in
the 10,000-meter run with a time of 31:06.26. The time bested
former Eagle Phil Hagedorn’s mark set in 2004, and was good
for an NCAA provisional qualifying time. His mark was good
for a third-place finish in the event.
Senior Greg Decker recorded a provisional time as
well, recording a mark of 14:38.71 in the 5,000-meter run for an
eighth-place finish. The time was the second-fastest finish
in school history, and the fastest since Tony Lewis’ record
setting time of 14:35.24 in 1986. Seniors Tommy
Fyffe and Charles Meade also narrowly
missed the qualifying time of 14:48 in the event, finishing with
marks of 14:48.19 and 14:49.51, respectively.
Other top finishers for the Emory men at the Duke Invitational were
Stephen Ellwood in the 1,500-meter run
(26th, 3:59.63), and Jason Campbell in
the 800-meter run (12th, 1:56.83).
For the Emory women at Duke, Natalie Fenn claimed
a second-place finish in the ‘B’ heat of the
5,000-meter run (18:28.27), Melanie Frank finished
third in the developmental heat of the 800-meter run (2:20.04) and
Sara Gelb claimed 28th in the
1,500-meter run (4:49.04).
At the Gem of the Hills Invitational, in Jacksonville, AL,
Alex Greenhouse won the 400-meter hurdles with a
time of 53.47 seconds, his third NCAA provisional qualifying mark
in the event in as many meets this season. Greenhouse also
finished sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.14
seconds.
Junior Everett Bryant finished second in the
110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.57 seconds. Senior
Tyler Faits would turn in top-10 performances in
both the 200-meter dash (finishing fifth with a time of 22.14
seconds) and the 400-meter dash (sixth with a mark of 50.05
seconds), while senior Alex Robin earned a
fourth-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of
1:54.78. Other top finishers in track events during the meet
for the Emory men were Michael Spewak in the
1,500-meter run (6th, 4:15.97), Jonathan
Usry in the 5,000-meter run (8th, 16:27.12),
and the Eagles’ 4x100-meter relay team of Isaac
Chambers, Greenhouse, Bryant and Faits, which finished
fifth in a time of 43.64.
Freshman Anthony Lombardo cleared a season-best
height of 4.55 meters in the pole vault, the best by a UAA
competitor this season, and just .15 meters short of a provisional
mark. The height was also the best by an Emory competitor
since 1985, and just .02 meters shy of the school record.
Sophomore Ben Euwer was Emory’s top
performer in three of the throw events, finishing third in both the
shot put with a throw of 13.41 meters and the hammer throw with a
distance of 43.12 meters, and fourth in the discus throw with a
toss of 38.18 meters. Other top finishers in field events for Emory
were Faits in the long jump (7th, 6.23 meters),
Taylor Warren in the triple jump (13th,
11.88 meters), and Don Wang in the javelin throw
(3rd, 51.66 meters).
For Emory’s women at the meet, sophomore Lauren
Attiah recorded an NCAA provisional qualifying distance of
11.62 meters in the triple jump, the third-longest in school
history. Freshman Theresa Ford was just .05
meters shy of a qualifying mark in the high jump, finishing ninth
with a height of 1.60 meters. Ford was also Emory’s top
finisher in the long jump (15th, 5.03 meters), discus
throw (7th, 36.20 meters) and javelin throw
(11th, 31.13 meters).
Senior Kara Cutrona also recorded two of
Emory’s top finishes in field events, coming in seventh in
the shot put with a throw of 10.65 meters, and 10th in
the hammer throw with a toss of 27.96 meters.
On the track, Emory’s 4x100-meter relay team of
Jasmine McCullough, Alix Dyer,
Hadiza Sa-Aadu and Mary Crystal
Spence finished fourth with a time of 48.69 seconds, just
four hundredths of a second short of the NCAA provisional
qualifying time. Spence would also be Emory’s top
finisher in both the 100-meter dash (9th, 12.77 seconds)
and the 200-meter dash (11th, 26.24 seconds).
Other top finishers in the track events for the Emory women
included Alycia Adams in the 400-meter dash
(14th, 1:03.42), Cassandra Gonzalez in
the 5,000-meter run (11th, 20:31.13), McCullough in the
100-meter hurdles (8th, 16.29 seconds) and
Charlotte Diggs in the 400-meter hurdles
(6th, 1:08.18).
Emory’s men finished third out of 15 teams at the Gem of the
Hills Invitational with 93 points scored, while the women finished
10th out of 18 teams with 18.50 points.
The Eagles will be splitting the squad again next weekend,
participating in the Furman Invitational in Greenville, SC and the
Ole Miss Invitational in Oxford, MS on Saturday, April
3rd.