As announced by the league office Monday morning, the Emory University outdoor track & field team had two student-athletes honored with two of the most prestigious University Athletic Association postseason awards.
After winning the UAA Women's Most Outstanding Running Performer during the indoor season, senior Annika Urban was named to the same award for the outdoor season. Similarly, freshman Henry Brandstadter was named the UAA Men's Rookie of the Year after winning the same award during the indoor season.
Urban becomes the 13th Eagle to win the UAA Outdoor Women's Most Outstanding Performer award and the first since Dani Bland won the award in 2019. Since the UAA began distinguishing the awards between track athletes and field athletes, Urban is the seventh Eagle to win the running specific Most Outstanding Performer award.
Brandstadter is the fourth Eagle to win the Men's Rookie of the Year award after teammate Jackson Price won the same award last year.
Urban earned the honor by virtue of her performance at the UAA Championships where she was part of three separate All-UAA performances for the Eagles. Urban registered a time of 4:28.67 to win the 1,500m run and in doing so she established a new UAA Championship record. Her time in the event is the fourth fastest in program history and the third fastest in the nation. Finishing second in the 800m run with a time of 2:11.76, Urban earned her second All-UAA honor of the meet and landed the seventh fastest time in Division III this season. Urban's final All-UAA accolade came in the 4x400 relay where she, along with teammates Libby Ranocha, Audrey Johnson and Dashiel Tao Harris came in second place with a time of 3:54.43.
On top of her prowess at the UAA Championship, Urban has also had a historic regular season breaking multiple program records and national records. Competing at the Bryan Clay Invite, Urban established the third fastest time in the history of Division III in the 5,000m run when she crossed the finish line in a time of 16:06.95 which also broke the program record by over 40 seconds. Urban also holds the fastest time in Division III this season in the 1,500m run which she set at the Lee Flames Invitational when she won the meet with a time of 4:26.17. Competing in the 800m run for the first time in her collegiate career at the Emory Thrills in the Hills Open, Urban set her third program record of the season when she logged a time of 2:10.15.
Brandstadter earned the Rookie of the Year mantle as a result of his three All-UAA performances including two UAA event championships. Brandstdater established a new program record in the long jump when he reached a distance of 7.44m to win the event and in doing so put himself squarely in nationals contention as his mark is the sixth best in the nation this season. Brandstadter was also a part of the conference championship winning 4x100 relay team along with teammates Price, Sam Ryba and Tommy Davis who crossed the finish line in a time of 41.34 seconds. Brandstadter's final All-UAA showing came in the high jump where he reached a height of 1.94m and ended up placing second as the result of jump-off for the conference title. Brandstadter also competed in the 100m dash where he scored a point for the Eagles by virtue of his time of 11.14 seconds which was good for eighth place.
Brandstadter has performed well on both the track and field all season as he has been a part of multiple standout performances. Competing at the Berry Field Day Invitational, Brandstadter was a part of the 4x100 relay team who ran a time of 41.22 seconds which is the second best time in the history of the Eagles and the 11th fastest time in Division III this season. Brandstadter also recorded meet wins at three different meets in the high jump and the long jump.