Emory University track and field team opened up its 2012 outdoor season with a strong start, as the women finished first, and the men fourth, at the Emory University Invitational.

The Emory women totaled 201 points to best all of the other 13 teams during the meet, including second-place Hope (111.50) and third-place Columbus State (91).  The Emory men scored 93.50 points, finishing behind first-place Hope (113.5), second-place Wilmington (112) and third-place Cedarville (106).

Two Emory women's records fell during the course of the meet.  On the first day of competition, Emory's 4x800-meter relay team of sophomore Emily Caesar, freshman Marissa Gogniat, junior Calley Edwards and senior Laura Lambie-Hanson won the event with a time of 9:21.20, besting the previous school record by over two seconds.

On the second day, competing in her first collegiate outdoor meet, freshman Stephanie Crane broke the school record in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:40.99, finishing third in the seeded race.  The time broke Angela Davie's previous school record of 4:41.08, set during the 2004 season.

Senior Charlotte Diggs fell just short of breaking the program record in the 400-meter hurdles, as her time of 1:02.58 was the second-best mark in the program's history, and good enough to win the event.  Senior Lauren Attiah added first-place finishes in both the long jump and the triple jump for the Emory women, reaching a distance of 5.47 meters in the former and 11.64 meters in the latter.  Junior Theresa Ford added an event win in the high jump (1.65 meters), while also finishing second in the javelin throw (35.45 meters), third in the long jump (5.11 meters) and fourth in the discus throw (37.46 meters).

Other top finishes from the Eagles included first-place finishes from freshman Elaina Kim in the pole vault (3.18 meter) and the Eagles' 4x400-meter relay team (3:57.83), and second-place finishes from freshman Emily Mitchell in the long jump (5.20 meters), Caesar in the 800-meter run (2:16.02), senior Tess Gallegos in the 5,000-meter run (18:21.47) and the 4x100-meter relay team (49.99 seconds).

On the men's side, Ian Francis took home two first-place finishes for the Eagles during the meet.  The senior placed first in the long jump with a distance of 7.03 meters, and also topped the standings in the triple jump with a leap of 14.09 meters.

The Eagles also performed well in the men's 5,000-meter run, where junior Stephen Ellwood won the event with a time of 15:18.31, while sophomore Edward Mulder finished in second place in a mark of 15:22.24.

Senior thrower Ben Euwer placed second in the hammer throw (45.38 meters).  Euwer also finished third in the shot put with a toss of 14.11 meters, the third-longest mark in school history.

Other top finishes for the Emory men came from sophomore Scott Greathouse in the high jump (fourth, 1.82 meters), freshman James Bassen in the javelin throw (fourth, 51.97 meters), sophomore William Matheson in the 800-meter run (fifth, 1:58.50),and freshman  Gui Silva in the 200-meter run (22.82 seconds in the preliminaries).

The Eagles will host their second and final outdoor track and field meet of the season, the Emory Track and Field Classic, on Friday and Saturday.