The Emory University track and field program competed at two different meets on Saturday afternoon sending one squad to the Samford Bulldog Open in Birmingham, Alabama and another squad to the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts. Four different program records were broken on the day at both meets.
Starting at the David Hemery meet was junior Marcus Cheema who broke the program record in the 800m with a time of 1:51.78 for a 55th place finish. Senior Dawit Dean also competed in the 800m crossing the line at the 1:52.64 mark for a 73rd place finish. Senior Spencer Watry broke the second program record in Boston in the mile finishing with a time of 4:08.69 followed by Cheema with a time of 4:16.11.
The Eagles were busy in Alabama with Senior Kenya Sei breaking the program record in the weight throw for the third time this season with a distance of 17.43m for an eighth place finish. Also on the field for the men was freshman Isaac Smith who took home a fifth place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 12.85m. Sophomore Henry Brandstadter rounded out the day with a fourth place finish in the high jump with a height of 1.95m, the 63rd best mark this season across Division III.
Junior Jackson Price started things on the track for the Eagles running a 21.96 in the 200m to break the program record by .03 seconds and take fifth in the event and rank 23rd in the division this season. Freshman Olin Gilster took a first place finish in the 5000m crossing the line at the 15:02.49 mark followed by a fifth place finish by Chris Belz in the 800m running a 1:56.88. The Eagles saw another first place finish from senior Tristan Olpin in the 3000m crossing the line at the 8:40.81 mark to beat the next runner by eight seconds.
The lone competitor for the women on the field was freshman Hannah Riley who finished sixth in the pole vault with a personal best beight of 3.67m ranking 18th in Division III so far this season. Riley also saw action on the track taking a fifth place finish in the 800m crossing the line at the 2:18.03 mark.
Junior Caroline Hansen got things started for the women on the track coming in fourth in the 60m hurdles third round event with a time of 9.68. Freshman Emma Flowers started the distance running taking home a second place finish in the 5000m crossing the line at the 19:18.15 mark. Senior Lily Taylor had another impressive day taking first in the mile and ranking 35th in the division with her time of 5:05.11. Junior Elle Haushalter also took a top-five finish in the event with a 5:10.28 time good for 83rd in the division this season. Freshman Cameron Gupta finished the solo events taking fourth in the 3000m running a 10:31.83. The relay group of Riley and juniors Dashiel Tao Harris, Mina Leopold and Kaya Binetti finished the day for Emory with a third place finish in the 4x400m running a 4:03.25.
The Eagles will head back to Columbia, South Carolina for the USC Invite on Saturday, February 17 for a one day meet before preparing for the UAA Championships starting Saturday, February 24.