LEXINGTON, Va. – Spring has sprung, and that means outdoor season has begun for the athletes of EMU Track & Field. The Royals made their annual trip to the Washington & Lee Carnival to open up their spring campaign on Friday and Saturday.
The women's team started the outdoor season on a high note with several personal bests and four EMU All-Time Top 10 performances in the throwing and distance events, led by
Lauren Kauffman's victory in Friday night's 10k.
Highlights
- DISTANCE/MID-DISTANCE
- 1500m Run (Invite): Erin Loker qualified for the top section of the 1500m, sticking with the pack of fast competitors to finish 16th in a personal record time of 4:57.95. With that performance, Loker enters EMU's Top 10 list for the outdoor 1500m, ranking ninth in school history.
- 1500m Run: Kauffman (13th/5:13.54), Elili Asefa (19th/5:24.96) and Peyton Lacombe (29th/5:55.80) represented the Royals in the open 1500m. Kauffman and Lacombe's times were both new personal bests for the event.
- 10,000m Run: Kauffman cruised to victory, completing 25 laps of the 400m track in 40:27.65, crossing the finish line 1:13 ahead of the runner-up Lucy Johnson of Ohio Wesleyan. Loker also made the podium for the Royals in third place with a PR time of 42:49.33. Kauffman put her name on the EMU's Top 10 list for the 10k at ninth overall.
- SPRINTS
- 400m Dash: Lacombe set a new personal record time of 1:09:02 to finish 22nd.
- JUMPS
- Long Jump: Angel David placed 12th with a best jump of 4.53m (14'10.5").
- Triple Jump: David's best performance of the meet came in the triple jump, slotting into seventh overall by jumping a distance of 10.40m (34'1.5").
- THROWS
- Discus: Emma Greer made the finals and finished sixth with a mark of 33.78m (110'10"), while Lily Gatesman set a personal record of 28.19m (92'6").
- Hammer: Greer went 33.47m (109'10") on her first attempt at the hammer, moving all the way up to sixth in EMU history for the event. Gatesman threw 32.89m (107'11") to move up to seventh on the all-time Top 10 right behind Greer.
- Shot Put: Greer placed 22nd with a throw of 9.52m (31'3").
- Javelin: Gatesman got a mark of 20.43m (67'0") to finished 22nd.
What's Next
The EMU Track & Field team will send athletes to two different meets next weekend. The majority of the team will head to the Doc Jopson Invitational at Bridgewater on Saturday, March 28, while some athletes will compete at the Dr. Jack M. Toms Alumni Invitational on Friday and Saturday, March 27-28.
