The Emory University Women's and Men's Track & Field Programs had strong showings this weekend at the Carolina Challenge in Columbia, SC. There was no team scoring at the event.

The Eagles sent a faction of 17 athletes to the Carolina Indoor Track & Field Complex, 10 representatives from the women's team and seven members of the men's squad. The meet, hosted by the University of South Carolina, saw a number of talented teams attend. The top-ranked teams on hand were No. 9 North Carolina A&T and No. 14 Kansas on the men's side, and No. 10 USC on the women's side, all three DI programs. The rest of the field was mostly comprised of DI and DII squads.

Emory was led by senior pole vaulter Isabel Saridakis, as she broke her own program record on Friday, clearing the bar set at 3.75m to earn ninth-place in the invite only event. The senior's previous mark was 3.63m, while her new standard secures her eighth-place out of all of DIII and second-place in the UAA on the season. Freshman Ticia King appeared in the open portion of the pole vault competition, putting forth an effort of (2.86m, 20^th-place).

Outside of Saridakis' career and school record, five other Eagles logged personal records. Junior Laura Sheckter and sophomore Alex Devaux both produced career-best results in the women's open weight throw competition. The pair placed in consecutive fashion, with Sheckter earning fifth-place out of 38 entries (14.41m) and Devaux taking sixth-place in her season-debut (14.22m). Sheckter and Devaux now stand in second and third-place out of UAA competitors in the weight throw, respectively. Senior Kemdi Okafor slung the weight a campaign-best 11.81m for 23^rd-place. Sheckter also participated in the open shot put event, in which she stretched the tape to a distance of 12.48m to land in fourth-place out of 51 throwers. In the long jump, junior Rebekah Bondi placed in 18^th (5.26m) and senior Nyla Lindo covered 4.85m to find herself in 37^th-place out of 48 jumpers.

Bondi also appeared on the track for Emory, recording a preliminary time of 7.80 in the 60m Dash, which was the fourth-best finish out of 80 runners in the qualifying rounds. Bondi ended her day with a 7.96 in the semi-finals. Also appearing in the 60m Dash preliminaries were freshman Ella Lavelle (8.06, 31^st-place), junior Michelle Rosenblum (8.18, 46^th-place), and Lindo (8.55, 71^st-place). Rosenblum's time was her fastest of the season, while Lindo's race was her first-ever 60m Dash appearance. Rosenblum also posted a personal-best in the 400m Run (1:01.43, 69^th-place out of 117), but crossed just after freshman Claire Evans, who made her debut in the event (1:01, 64^th-place). The final Eagle to break through the line in the 400m Run was Lavelle (1:04.45, 91^st-place). Additionally, Evans ran in the 60m Hurdles, in which she recorded a time of 9.61 (37^th-place out of 58).

On the men's side, freshman Ryan Ryu and senior Alex Rand put up personal-record performances for the Eagles. Ryu covered 12.89m in the Triple Jump, which lands him in a tie for the ninth-best effort in Emory history. The freshman finished in 7^th-place out of 10 at the meet. Rand's career-best mark came in the 400m Run, as the senior raced in 51.50 to take 78^th-place out of 141 participants. Senior Liam Fost led the Eagles in the event by finishing in 24^th-place with a time of 49.44. Fost, Rand, and freshman Tommy Davis all competed in the 60m Dash. Davis was the first to finish of the trio, sprinting to a time of 7.26 and earning 67^th-place out of 123 entries. Fost (7.32) and Rand (7.51) followed in 80^th-place and 103^rd-place, respectively.

A pair of freshman represented the Emory men in the throwing events, as Wheeler Wilson tossed both the weight and the shot, while Michael Tiffin only competed in the weight throw. In the shot put, Wilson earned 15^th-place out of 42 athletes after producing a heave that measured out to 12.59m. Wilson came up with a distance of 11.91m in the weight throw (19^th-place out of 28), while Tiffin ended up in 23^rd-place after his effort of 10.90m. Freshman Patrick Osborne was the sole Saturday participant for Emory, as he competed in the open pole vault competition. Osborne cleared the bar when it was set at 3.85m to earn 14^th-place out of 23 vaulters.

With no meet on the schedule for next weekend, the Eagles will rest up before travelling to the Birmingham Crossplex for the Samford Open. The competition will be a two-day event (Feb. 14^th – Feb. 15^th).

Final Results