SALEM, Va. – The athletes of EMU Track & Field put their training to the test against the best in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference this weekend, competing in the ODAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 28-March 1 at the Cregger Center on the campus of Roanoke College.
The men's team did well against the best the ODAC has to offer, finishing sixth as a team with 43 points, the highest team finish and point total for the Royals at ODAC Indoors since 2022, when they also finished sixth. Overall, EMU had three All-ODAC performances on the weekend:
Filipo Toelau in the 60-meter hurdles,
Koran Rucker in the shot put, and the 4x400m relay team of
Ahsan Abul-Qasim,
Josh Joseph,
Da'Shawn Winters and
Nick Arnold.
Highlights
- SPRINTS
- 60m Dash: Winters made the final by clocking in at 7.08, good for eighth in the prelims. He wound up eighth in the final with a time of 7.12.
- 200m Dash: Arnold scored two points for the Royals in this event, finishing seventh with a time of 22.92.
- 400m Dash: Arnold also factored the scoring in the 400m, finishing fourth and completing two laps of the track in 50.24.
- 60m Hurdles: Toelau tied his personal record of 8.21 to qualify for the final with the second-best time. Toelau topped that with a time of 8.15, reseting his own school record in the event to take home second place, trailing only Davin Gartley of Washington & Lee.
- DISTANCE
- Mile Run: Ethan Kanagy ran a time of 4:49.06 to placed 21st.
- 5000m Run: Ben Huyard represented the Royals in this event with a time of 18:16.56 and a 20th-place finish.
- RELAYS
- 4x400m Relay: The team of Abul-Qasim, Joseph, Winters and Arnold finished third, teaming up for a time of 3:25.97. As the anchor leg, Arnold passed a runner from Randolph College down the final straightaway to help the team secure All-ODAC Third Team honors.
- Distance Medley Relay: The relay team of Logan Boyd, Joseph, Alex Belisle and Kanagy contributed two points to the team total with a seventh-place finish, clocking in at 11:32.78.
- JUMPS
- High Jump: Ahsan Abul-Qasim put a point on the board for the Royals with an eighth-place finish, getting over the bar at 1.90m (6'2.75")
- Long Jump: Abul-Qasim doubled up with a fourth place finish in the long jump, leaping 6.90m (22'7.75") on the best throw of the day.
- THROWS
- Shot Put: Rucker went 15.49m (50'10") during the prelims to put himself in contention going into finals. He saved his best throw for the sixth and final attempt with a mark of 15.55m (51'0.25") to secure the runner-up spot. Silas Bates placed 11th with a mark of 12.36m (40'6.75"), while David Pinon came in 16th with a best throw of 11.33m (37'2.25").
- Weight Throw: Rucker wound up fourth in the weight throw with a mark of 15.45m (50'8.25"), adding five points to EMU's point total.
What's Next
The spring outdoor campaign for EMU Men's Track & Field begins with the Washington & Lee Carnival on Friday and Saturday, March 20-21 in Lexington, Va.
