The Emory University track and field program traveled to Columbia, South Carolina to compete in the annual South Carolina Invitational on Friday afternoon.
Starting on the track for the men was junior Caleb Bunch in the 60m qualifying event finishing second with a time of 7:30. Freshman Kirin Karver followed with a fifth place finish in the mile running a time of 4:21.25 with teammates Olin Gilster (4:22.06) and Jonathan Orelowitz (4:22.12) finishing seventh and eighth respectively. Junior Sam Ryba finished fifth in the 60m prelims with a time of 6.95, just .01 seconds away from tying the program record, before taking a fifth place finish (7.01) in the finals. Freshman Graham Greene continues his impressive rookie campaign taking third in the 400m crossing the line at 48.91 with junior Chris Belz following with a 1:53.84 finish in the 800m good for a first place finish.
Freshman Jayden Bai qualified for the 60m hurdles finals with a time of 8.92 before taking a seventh place finish in the finals finishing at the 8.90 mark. Junior Jackson Price followed with an eighth place finish in the 200m crossing the line at 22.09. Sophomore Nikhil Makker rounded out the distance runners taking fourth in the 3000m with a time of 8:38.09. Freshman Theodore Drye, senior Dawit Dean, sophomore Bryce Wurster and Greene finished the day with a 3.21.10 finish in the 4x400 relay good for a fourth place finish.
Sophomore Henry Brandstadter and senior Kenya Sei both continue with stellar performances on the field for the men. Brandstadter took home a first place finish in the long jump with a distance of 7.36, the second best distance in program history. Freshman Isaac Smith and graduate student Aiden Gilbert also placed fourth and fifth in the event respectively. Sei also took home a first place finish in the weight throw with a distance of 16.74m and out-threw his opponent by 0.44m.
Starting on the track for the women was junior Kaya Binetti who took second in the 60m qualifying event with a time of 8.09 before graduate student Nikki Boon saw a fifth place finish in the 60m hurdles finals with a time of 9.21 after qualifying earlier in the day. Freshman Payton Fleming took home a top-five finish in the mile crossing the line with a 5:07.12 followed by a ninth place finish from junior Dashiel Tao Harris in the 400m (59.39). The Eagles saw four top-10 finishes in the 800m with senior Lily Taylor leading the pack with a 2:16.36 with freshman Hannah Riley and juniors Madison Tiaffay and Jenna Daly following behind.
Junior Audrey Johnson saw a third place finish in the 200m with a time of 25.15 followed by another third place finish from freshman Cameron Gupta in the 3000m crossing the line at the 10:43.10 mark.
Freshman Linda Wang started the field events for the women taking fifth in the high jump with a height of 1.56m. Freshman Hannah Riley continues her rookie season taking the gold in the pole vault with a height of 3.55m with junior Alex Feurer taking second with a height of 3.05m. Boon finished in a tie for second in the long jump with a distance of 5.57m and junior Caroline Hansen rounded out the day with a first place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 11.87m.
The Eagles will compete in the second day of the South Carolina Invitational on Saturday, February 3 in Columbia South Carolina.