On the strength of four All-America performances, the Emory University Women's Track and Field program capped off an impressive indoor season with the highest finish ever at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, finishing eighth overall.
The Eagles sent five members of the team to Birmingham, Alabama for the national indoor championships with all five student-athletes bringing home hardware from the meet. Junior Dani Bland and senior Gabrielle Stravach notched individual All-America efforts while the 4x400m Relay registered their second national runner-up finish of the last three years.
In the Mile, Stravach became the first female in team history to earn All-America acclaim in the indoor mile as she placed second overall with a time of school-record time of 4:52.76. Her national runner-up performance was the highest individual finish in any event in Emory Women's Indoor Track and Field history. Bland earned her first indoor 200m Dash All-America honor, placing fourth with a finals time of 25.00. During prelims, Bland set the school record in the event with a time of 24.85.
Bland added All-America honors as a member of the 4x400m Relay with junior Dilys Osei, sophomore Kaitlyn Leonard and senior Erica Goldman. The relay ran a superb race in the finals, running a school record time of 3:48.45. The second place finish matches the 2016 finish for the best ever by an Emory team and the three straight All-America award in the event.
A few weeks prior, the Eagles put forth a dominating showing at the University Athletic Association Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, capturing six event titles and 10 All-UAA finishes to place third with 104 points.
Bland was named the conference's Most Outstanding Performer for the running events after winning event titles in all three events she competed in: 60m Dash, 200m Dash and 4x400m Relay.
Stravach and Osei claimed conference titles in the Mile and 60m Hurdles with sophomore Greta Wilker earning a win in the shot put, registering a school record throw of 12.32m. The 4x400m Relay featuring Bland, Osei, Leonard and Goldman rounded out the conference winners for the Eagles.
Also netting All-UAA performances at the meet were junior Paris Wagner in the weight throw, freshman Rebekah Bondi in the long jump, senior Kora Dreffs in the shot put and Goldman in the 400m Dash.
Head Coach John Curtin and 11 Eagles were honored by the USTFCCCA at the conclusion of the season as Emory finished as the top team in the South/Southeast regional rankings. Curtin was named the South/Southeast Regional Coach of the Year for the fifth time while the 11 Eagles garnered 20 USTFCCCA All-Region honors with Bland, Osei and Stravach each collecting three All-Region honors a piece.
In June, Goldman was selected to the Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team, becoming just the 11th student-athlete in Emory Women's Track and Field history to be selected as an Academic All-American by the institution.
The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2017-18 season:
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All-America (Top-8 Finisher at NCAA Division III Championships) |
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Westfield, NJ (Westfield) |
Mile Run (2nd) |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
4x400m Relay (2nd), 200m Dash (4th) |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
4x400m Relay (2nd) |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
4x400m Relay (2nd) |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
4x400m Relay (2nd) |
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NCAA Division III Championship Participant |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
4x400m Relay (2nd), 200m Dash (4th), 60m Dash (13th) |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
4x400m Relay (2nd) |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
4x400m Relay (2nd) |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
4x400m Relay (2nd) |
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Westfield, NJ (Westfield) |
Mile Run (2nd) |
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South/Southeast Region Coach of the Year (USTFCCCA) |
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John Curtin |
33rd Season |
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USTFCCCA South/Southeast All-Region (Top 5 in Respective Event) |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
60m Dash, 200m Dash, 4x400m Relay |
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Collegeville, PA (Perkiomen Valley) |
Long Jump |
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LaPorte, IN (La Lumiere School) |
Pole Vault |
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Decatur, GA (Asheville (NC)) |
60m Hurdles |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
400m Dash, 4x400m Relay |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
400m Dash, 4x400m Relay |
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Houston, TX (AWTY International School) |
3000m Run, 5000m Run |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
200m Dash, 60m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay |
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St. Louis, MO (Visitation Academy) |
High Jump |
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Westfield, NJ (Westfield) |
800m Run, Mile Run, 3000m Run |
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Traverse City, MI (Traverse City West) |
Weight Throw |
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University Athletic Association Most Outstanding Performer |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
Running Events |
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UAA Champion |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
60m Dash, 200m Dash, 4x400m Relay |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
60m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay |
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Westfield, NJ (Westfield) |
Mile Run |
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Belding, MI (Belding) |
Shot Put |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
4x400m Relay |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
4x400m Relay |
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All-UAA (Top-3 Finisher at UAA Championships) |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
60m Dash (1st), 200m Dash (1st), 4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Collegeville, PA (Perkiomen Valley) |
Long Jump (3rd) |
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Ann Arbor, MI (Father Gabriel Richard) |
Shot Put (3rd) |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
60m Hurdles (1st), 4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
4x400m Relay (1st), 400m Dash (3rd) |
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Westfield, NJ (Westfield) |
Mile Run (1st) |
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Traverse City, MI (Traverse City West) |
Weight Throw (3rd) |
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Belding, MI (Belding) |
Shot Put (1st) |
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CoSIDA Academic All-District Team |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
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CoSIDA Academic All-America |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
Third Team |
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UAA Athletes of the Week |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
Dec. 5 |
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The following were the top marks by Emory athletes during the 2017-18 season:
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55m Dash |
7.31 |
Sewanee Indoor Invitational |
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60m Dash |
7.71 |
UAA Championships |
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200m Dash |
24.85* |
NCAA DIII Championships |
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400m Dash |
57.79 |
UAA Championships |
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800m Run |
2:14.70 |
UAA Championships |
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3000m Run |
10:14.93 |
Emory Crossplex Invitational |
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5000m Run |
18:24.55 |
UAA Championships |
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Mile Run |
4:52.76* |
NCAA Championships |
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55m Hurdles |
8.59 |
Tiger Indoor Invitational |
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60m Hurdles |
8.98 |
UAA Championships |
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High Jump |
1.60m |
KMS Invitational |
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Pole Vault |
3.37m |
UAA Championships |
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Long Jump |
5.35m |
UAA Championships |
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Triple Jump |
10.93m |
BSC Panther Icebreaker |
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Shot Put |
12.32m* |
UAA Championships |
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Weight Throw |
14.88m |
Dunamis Super Meet |
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4x400m Relay |
3:48.45* |
NCAA DIII Championships |
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DMR |
Talia Carlson, Radhika Shah, Lauren Rodriguez, Ileana Zeissner |
12:57.22 |
Emory Crossplex Invitational |
* - Denotes Emory Record