Building on the success the team saw during the indoor season, the Emory University Women's Track and Field program completed one of best outdoor seasons in school history in 2018.
The Eagles sent six student-athletes to the NCAA Division III Championships at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in May, recording All-America performances in five events, including three national runner-up finishes, and finished fifth in the team standings with 35 points. The fifth place showing marked the highest finish ever for an Emory team, men or women, at either the indoor or outdoor NCAA DIII Championships in program history.
Junior Dani Bland and senior Gabrielle Stravach turned in individual second place efforts for the Eagles with Bland taking silver in the 100m Dash with a time of 11.97 and Stravach posting a time of 4:28.61 in the 1500m Run. Bland added individual All-America honors in the 200m Dash, placing third with a time of 24.66.
In the 4x400m Relay, Bland, junior Dilys Osei, sophomore Kaitlyn Leonard and senior Erica Goldman recorded the highest outdoor finish ever in the event with the second place showing, running a school-record time of 3:42.97, the 11th fastest time in Division III history. The Eagles held the lead from the gun up until the final turn before Nebraska Wesleyan's Kaylee Jones passed Goldman and outlasted her over the homestretch.
Bland, Goldman, Osei and freshman Rebekah Bondi rounded out the All-America performances for the Eagles as the quartet took fourth in the 4x100m Relay with a finals time of 47.04.
The All-America honor gave Bland four for the meet, the most by an individual in a single NCAA meet in program history, and her eight combined All-America awards, indoors and outdoors, through her first three seasons are the most by a student-athlete in Emory Track and Field history.
A month earlier at the UAA Championships in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Emory tied the school record with seven event titles as the team finished third at the meet with 163.50 points.
The Eagles captured event titles in six of the 10 running events contested on Sunday with Bland winning a pair of individual titles in the 100m and 200m Dashes. Goldman was crowned the 400m Dash champion for the first time in her career and Osei added an individual title in the 400m Hurdles.
Bland and Osei were part of both sprint relays that won gold at the meet as the 4x100m Relay of Osei, Bland, Bondi and senior Julia Leventhal crossed the finish line first with a time of 48.01 and in the 4x400m Relay, Osei, Bland, Goldman and Leonard paced the field with a time of 3:52.73.
Freshman Taylor Robinson rounded out the Emory winners on the afternoon as she posted a personal best mark of 39.71m to win the Javelin.
Bland was tabbed the conference's Most Outstanding Performer in the running events after earning UAA titles in all four events she competed in. She became just the third female to capture both the indoor and outdoor UAA Most Outstanding Performer awards in either the running or field events in the same year in program history.
During the course of the season, two school records fell in addition to the 4x400m Relay. Osei set the 400m Hurdles records at 1:00.84 at UGA's Torrin Lawrence Memorial Meet and sophomore Isabel Saridakis set the pole vault mark of 3.68m at the UAA Championships.
Head Coach John Curtin, Assistant Coach Jordan Hill and 10 Eagles were honored by the USTFCCCA at season's end as Emory finished as the top team in the South/Southeast regional rankings and were ranked as high as No. 4 in the country, the highest national ranking in program history. Curtin and Hill swept the South/Southeast Regional Coach of the Year awards while the 10 Eagles garnered 20 USTFCCCA All-Region honors with Bland and Osei each collecting four 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 2018 season:
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All-America (Top-8 Finisher at NCAA Division III Championships) |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
100m Dash, 200m Dash, 4x100m Relay, 4x400m Relay |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
4x100m Relay, 4x400m Relay |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
4x100m Relay, 4x400m Relay |
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Westfield, NJ (Westfield) |
1500m Run |
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Collegeville, PA (Perkiomen Valley) |
4x100m Relay |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
4x400m Relay |
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NCAA Division III Championship Participant |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
100m Dash (2nd), 200m Dash (3rd), 4x100m Relay (4th), 4x400m Relay (2nd) |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
4x100m Relay (4th), 4x400m Relay (2nd), 400m Hurdles (12th) |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
4x100m Relay (4th), 4x400m Relay (2nd), 400m Dash (16th) |
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Westfield, NJ (Westfield) |
1500m Run (2nd) |
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Collegeville, PA (Perkiomen Valley) |
4x100m Relay (4th) |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
4x400m Relay (2nd) |
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South/Southeast Regional Coach of the Year (USTFCCCA) |
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John Curtin |
33rd season |
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South/Southeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year (USTFCCCA) |
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Jordan Hill |
2nd Season |
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USTFCCCA South/Southeast All-Region (Top 5 in Respective Event) |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
100m Dash, 200m Dash, 4x100m Relay, 4x400m Relay |
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Collegeville, PA (Perkiomen Valley) |
4x100m Relay |
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LaPorte, IN (La Lumiere School) |
Pole Vault |
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Decatur, GA (Asheville (NC)) |
100m Hurdles, Heptathlon |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
400m Dash, 4x100m Relay, 4x400m Relay |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
4x400m Relay |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
100m Hurdles, 400m Hurdles, 4x100m Relay. 4x400m Relay |
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Seymour, CT (Seymour) |
Javelin |
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Richfield, OH (Walsh Jesuit) |
Pole Vault |
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Westfield, NJ (Westfield) |
800m Run, 1500m Run |
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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) |
4x100m Relay (1st), 100m Dash (1st), 200m Dash (1st), 4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Collegeville, PA (Perkiomen Valley) |
4x100m Relay (1st) |
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Carversville, PA (Central Bucks East) |
4x100m Relay (1st) |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
4x100m Relay (1st), 400m Hurdles (1st), 4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
400m Dash (1st), 4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Seymour, CT (Seymour) |
Javelin (1st) |
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All-UAA (Top-3 Finisher at UAA Championships) |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
4x100m Relay (1st), 100m Dash (1st), 200m Dash (1st), 4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Collegeville, PA (Perkiomen Valley) |
4x100m Relay (1st), 100m Dash (2nd) |
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Carversville, PA (Central Bucks East) |
4x100m Relay (1st) |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
4x100m Relay (1st), 400m Hurdles (1st), 4x400m Relay (1st), 100m Hurdles (2nd) |
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Lloyd Harbor, NY (St. Anthony's) |
400m Dash (1st), 4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
4x400m Relay (1st) |
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Seymour, CT (Seymour) |
Javelin (1st) |
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Richfield, OH (Walsh Jesuit) |
Pole Vault (3rd) |
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Westfield, NJ (Westfield) |
1500m Run (2nd) |
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Traverse City, MI (Traverse City West) |
Hammer (2nd) |
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Tallahassee, FL (Lincoln) |
Discus (2nd) |
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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 Team |
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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) |
March 26, April 23 |
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Mountville, PA (Hempfield) |
April 2, April 23, May 9 |
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Richfield, OH (Walsh Jesuit) |
April 9 |
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Littleton, MA (Littleton) |
April 23 |
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Monroe, GA (George Walton Academy) |
April 23 |
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The following were the top marks by Emory athletes during the 2017 season:
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100m Dash |
11.89 |
Emory Invitational |
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200m Dash |
24.46 |
Torrin Lawrence Memorial |
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400m Dash |
56.03 |
Torrin Lawrence Memorial |
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800m Run |
2:13.50 |
UAA Outdoor Championships |
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1500m Run |
4:28.61 |
NCAA Championships |
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3000m Run |
11:03.04 |
Mountain Laurel Invitational |
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5000m Run |
18:22.13 |
Georgia Tech Invitational |
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10000m Run |
39:28.01 |
Berry Field Day Invitational |
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100m Hurdles |
15.04 |
UAA Championships |
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400m Hurdles |
1:00.84* |
Torrin Lawrence Memorial |
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3000m Steeplechase |
11:38.00 |
Emory Invitational |
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High Jump |
1.55m |
Emory Classic |
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Pole Vault |
3.68m* |
UAA Championships |
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Long Jump |
5.23m |
UAA Championships |
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Triple Jump |
11.35m |
Emory Invitational |
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Shot Put |
11.61m |
UAA Championships |
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Discus |
39.03m |
UAA Championships |
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Hammer |
46.60m |
UAA Championships |
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Javelin |
39.71m |
UAA Championships |
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Heptathlon |
3214 pts |
Gregory Invitational |
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4x100m Relay |
47.02 |
NCAA Championships |
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4x400m Relay |
3:42.97* |
NCAA Championships |
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4x800m Relay |
Maeve Andrews, Ileana Zeissner, Nicole Steiner, Kayla O'Shea |
9:32.04 |
Emory Classic |
* - Indicates Emory record