LYNCHBURG, Va. – The EMU Track & Field team laced up their spikes for the first time this season at the Liberty Kickoff in Lynchburg, Va. The Royals got their 2023-24 campaign off on the right foot with some noteworthy performances. In particular, Bellamy Immanuel picked up where he left off in cross country by setting EMU's indoor 5000-meter run record, clocking in at 15:09.89.

Highlights – Men

• DISTANCE/MID-DISTANCE
  • In addition to the school record, Immanuel won the 5000m, finishing 14 seconds ahead of runner-up Bret Greene.
• SPRINTS
  • Damon Morgan led a trio of EMU men in the 60-meter dash, finishing in 16th place and tying his personal best with a time of 7.07 seconds. Da'Shawn Winters and Bryson Hunter both set new PRs, crossing the line in 7.14 and 7.18 seconds, respectively. Winters moved up to fifth on the EMU indoor all-time list for the 60m, while Hunter is now tied for seventh.
  • The sprinters turned in some more top-10 performances in the 200-meter dash. Morgan again led the pack of Royals with a 25^th-place finish and a time of 22.83. Hunter broke the tape in 23.05 while Da'Shawn Winters completed his lap in 23.10. Hunter moved up one spot to seventh in school history in the indoor 200m. Winters, meanwhile, cracked the top-10 list at ninth in the collegiate debut for the first-year.
  • In the 400-meter run, first-year Jowell Gonzalez-Santiago made his college debut in a big way, setting an indoor personal best of 50.84 to finish 19^th out of 47 competitors, outpacing several Division I athletes.
• JUMPS
  • Before his 400m performance, Gonzalez-Santiago started his first college meet with an impressive mark of 21'-7" (6.58m) in the long jump to take home ninth place in that event. Gonzalez-Santiago now ranks sixth all-time in EMU indoor history in the long jump. Hunter and Winters achieved jumps of 19'-10" (6.05m) and 19'-9" (6.02m), respectively.
• RELAYS
  • The 1600-meter relay team of Joseph Kerr, Winters, Chris Kibler, and Gonzalez-Santiago teamed up for a time of 3:30.

Highlights – Women

• JUMPS
  • Faith Schultz leaped 16'-4.25" (4.99m) in the long jump, bringing home a 14th-place finish. A first-year athlete, Schultz made EMU's record book in her college debut, ranking fifth in school history in the indoor long jump.
  • Angel David and Sha'Dymon Blanton also represented the Royals in the long jump. The first-year David had a best jump of the day of 15'-4.5" (4.69m), joining her classmate Schultz in the top 10 list at eighth all-time in the indoor long jump. Blanton's best mark of the day was 14'-6.75" (4.44m).
  • Along with the long jump, David competed in the triple jump, landing in the sand pit at a distance of 34'-6.75" (10.54m), good for sixth on EMU's all-time indoor list for the event.

What's Next
This Sunday, Dec. 3, EMU will send another group of athletes to the Holiday Kickoff at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va. It will be the Royals' last meet before an extended break from competition for the holidays. The first event at Wilkins Athletics & Events Center will begin at 12 p.m.

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