Emory University sophomore Debora Adjibaba and senior Theresa Ford were named the Women's Most Outstanding Performers in Running and Field events, respectively, after their performances at the 2013 University Athletic Association (UAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships in New York, NY last weekend.

In addition, Emory's coaching staff, consisting of Head Coach John Curtin and assistants Carl Leivers, Mark Johnson, Aaron Campbell and Pedro Vasquez, were named the Women's Coaching Staff of the Year.  It marked the fourth-straight season, and the ninth time in the program's history, that the Eagles' coaches have claimed the women's outdoor award.

Adjibaba set two new conference records and won all four events she competed in at the conference championship meet.  She broke her own record in the 100-meter dash, winning the finals with a time of 12.14 seconds, the ninth-fastest mark by a Division III competitor this season.  She later won the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.83 seconds, breaking the UAA record she set in the preliminaries a day earlier.  The sophomore was also a part of two UAA Championship winning relays, running the anchor leg of the Eagles' 4x100-meter relay (48.51 seconds) and the first leg of the 4x400-meter relay (3:56.28).  Adjibaba totaled 25 of the Eagles' 209 points during the meet.

This is the second-straight season that Adjibaba has been named the UAA Most Outstanding Performer ay the outdoor championships, becoming the first repeat-winner of the honor in Emory history.  She is also just the fourth repeat winner in the history of Outdoor Track and Field competition in the UAA, joining June Parks of Brandeis (1990, 1991), Leslie Kindling of Case Western Reserve (1993, 1994, 1995) and Claire Ray of Washington University (2009, 2010).

Ford won a conference championship, earned five all-conference honors, and scored in each of the seven events she competed in at the UAA Championships.  Ford totaled 46 points by herself during the meet, which would rank her sixth-place in the team standings, just seven points behind sixth place.  She won the long jump with a leap of 5.73 meters, a new UAA record and the second-best mark in school history, in addition to the ninth-best distance by a Division III athlete this season.  The senior finished second in the triple jump with a distance of 11.32 meters, the best mark by an Eagle this season, and was the runner up in the high jump as well, clearing the bar at 1.69 meters.  She added on all-UAA honors with third-place finishes in both the 100-meter hurdles (15.13 seconds) and the discus throw (36.80 meters), while also scoring in the javelin throw (fourth place, 37.91 meters) and the shot put (sixth place, 10.55 meters), registering season-best marks by an Eagle in both.

This was the first time that Ford has been named the UAA's Most Outstanding Performer during the outdoor season.  She previously claimed the honor during the 2012 and 2013 indoor campaigns.

Emory women's athletes have now won UAA Most Outstanding Performer honors on nine occasions.  Prior winners include Kahlilah Jennings in 1997, Sarah Byrd in 2002, Andrea Midyett in 2003, Katie Anding in 2006 (field), Jordan Beall in 2007 (field) and Brittany Donino in 2010 (running).  Starting in 2005, the UAA issued separate Most Outstanding Performer awards for running and field events.

The Eagles won their fourth-consecutive UAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship and the eighth in the program's history at last weekend's meet.  Emory will return to action this weekend at the Bob Pollock Invitational, hosted by Clemson University on Saturday.