It all came down to the final event of the University Athletic Association Outdoor Championships, and the Emory University women’s team rose to the challenge, using a first-place performance in the 4x400 relay to break a tie and bring home the conference title to Atlanta.  It marks the first outdoor crown for the Emory’s women’s program since 1997.  The Emory men’s team posted a third-place finish with 159 points, behind Washington University (192 pts.) and Chicago (163 pts.).

Emory and the University of Chicago women entered the 4x400 relay tied for first place, each with 191.50 points.  The Eagles’ quartet of Hadiza Sa-Aadu, Brittany Donino, Melanie Levy and Alex Dyer came through with the win, registering a time of 4:01.50, bettering Chicago’s runner-up showing of 4:03.4.  The Eagles finished the Championships with 201.50 points while the Maroons totaled 199.50.

The women’s side turned in a big effort on the final day of action, coming away with a total of eight first-place finishes.  Senior Brittany Donino enjoyed a memorable last day, posting first-place efforts in the 400 meter hurdles with a NCAA provisional time of 1:04.11, the 100 hurdles with another provisional mark of 14.59 seconds (the third-best time in school history), while teaming with Dyer, Sa-Aadu and Crystal Spence to win the 4x100 relay, clocking a provisional time of 48.54 seconds.

Spence topped the field in the 100 meters with a mark of 12.33 seconds and headlined the squad’s exceptional 1-2-3 effort in the 200 meters with a provisional qualifying time of 25.16 seconds.  Dyer finished runner-up (25.53) while Sa-Aadu (25.97) was third.  Dyer was the conference champ in the 400 meter dash for the second straight year with a showing of 59.07 seconds.

Senior Rebecca Flink bolstered the team’s efforts with a first-place finish in the 5,000 meters (17:45), her second individual championship over the weekend.  On Saturday, Flink won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a provisional qualifying mark.

Other all-UAA honorees (top-three finishers in their events) during day two for Emory included Theresa Ford in the javelin throw (third), Lauren Attiah in the triple jump (second), Jasmine McCullough in the 100-meter hurdles (second), and Sa-Aadu in the 100-meter dash (third).  During the two-day meet, the Eagles totaled conference championships in seven individual events and two relays, while notching 15 all-UAA honors in individual events and two in relays.

In addition, sophomore Lauren Attiah's jump of 11.86 meters in the triple jump was good for a new school record, besting her own previous best mark of 11.82 meters.  The distance was good for a provisional qualifying mark.

The men’s team had three individual champions on Sunday with senior Alex Greenhouse winning the 100-meter (10.78 seconds) and 400-meter hurdle (54.07 seconds - a provisional qualifying mark) races.  Senior Alex Robin bettered the field in the 800 meters with a 1:57.35 and ran the final leg of the 4x800 relay that won with a time mark of 7:49.40.  Joining Robin on that relay team was Stephen Ellwood, Kevin Lanza and Jason Campbell.

Also earning all-UAA honors on the second day for the Emory men were Brad Pruente in the high jump (third), Charles Meade in the 5,000-meter run (third), and Nelson Nwannunu in the triple jump (third).  The Eagles finished the meet with individual championships in four events and one relay championship, while recording 10 individual all-UAA honors and two in relays.

After taking next weekend off for final exams, the Emory track and field teams will begin to turn their attention towards the NCAA Division III Championships at the end of May.  Eagles who have qualified or are close to qualifying for the championships will continue to compete, starting Saturday, May 8th at the Georgia Invitational.