The highlight of the men's and women's track teams' excursion to Duke University (N.C.) this weekend did not come on the track or in the field events, but rather on the ride home.
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| Andrew Pincetic/Staff |
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Freshman Chris Leahy ran a personal best time of 2:01.76 in the 800-meter run at the Duke Invitational this weekend.
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On their way back to Atlanta, after inclement weather canceled Saturday's events, the teams stopped to help a family in an overturned vehicle.
"It was the most somber experience in recent memory," said junior captain Justin Manger. "This trip has come to signify so much more than competing."
While the teams were able to assist the family in need, they could not prevent the adverse weather conditions that were plaguing the Southeast.
Last week, Head Coach John Curtin said the Invitational would allow the athletes to showcase their individual talent.
The inclement weather, however, forced the cancellation of two of the team's strongest events - the women's 3,000-meter run and 4x400 relays.
In the events that were held, the Eagles managed to hold their own.
Freshman Andrea Midyett placed 28th out of 78 runners in the 800-meter run, with her time of 2:22.31 good enough for the fastest in the University Athletic Association this season.
Junior Kerry Miller - last week's top performer in the 5,000-meter run - battled through a pulled muscle and came in second on the team to senior captain Melissa Sadowski.
Junior LaToyin Rorie recorded a season-best time of 12.89 in the 100-meter dash.
Friday's results included a bit of both good news and bad for the men's 4x100 relay, a group for which Curtin had high hopes. Sophomore Ben Steiniger ran a season best 11.69, but freshman Lewis Brown - the Eagles top sprinter in the event - pulled up lame with a hamstring injury.
Sophomore Brian Armstrong registered the fastest time (22.27) in the 200-meter dash this season.
Freshman Rich Hite has continued an impressive outdoor season running the 800 in 1:55.32.
Hite comes off his first collegiate 400 meters last week. The freshman's time of 49.31 ties him for fifth all time at Emory in that event.
"I'm confident because I'm running consistently - the competition has been great lately," Hite said. "I was pleasantly surprised by the 400 last week, it was faster than I had expected. I didn't think I could run that fast."
Senior Jeff Calabrese ran the fastest time in the UAA this season in the 10,000-meter run at 31:39.21.
Fellow freshman and 800 runner Chris Leahy ran a collegiate-best of 2:01.76 in the event. Leahy has improved from week to week, dropping his time by over two seconds since last week's Emory Classic.
Junior Kendra Robins was the lone field event athlete to come home with a mark. Robins, the defending UAA champion, threw the javelin 36.46 meters.
- Eric Wilson is an injured member of the track team.
