The Eastern Michigan University women’s track and field team started the season off Friday with a dominant victory at the Eagle Holiday Meet over Central Michigan University, Bowling Green State University, the University of Toledo and Oakland University.
The Eagles tallied 189 team points, compared to 92 by Central, 62 by Toledo, 29 by Bowling Green and 28.5 by Oakland.
The Eagles managed to win seven of the team’s events. The team also had eight athletes finish as runners-up.
The Eagles won the 200-meter dash, 1,000-meter run, 3,000-meter run, 60-meter hurdles, high jump, pole vault and long jump events.
A major highlight to emerge from the meet was the success of numerous freshmen competing in their first collegiate events for the Eagles.
Freshman Brittany Crew was the star of the evening, breaking a 22-year old school record with a shot put throw of 15.58 meters, surpassing the previous record of 14.50 meters set in 1990 by Tammy Stall.
Three other freshmen finished in first place. Morgan Yeadon won the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.52 seconds, Vanessa Clerveaux took the 60-meter hurdles at 8.57 seconds and Alysha Newman won the pole vault with a height of 3.80 meters.
Other winners included Marina Manjon-Rivadulla in the 1,000-meter run (2:56.14), Victoria Voronko in the 3,000-meter run (10:01.52) and Tatijana Jacobson in the high jump (1.83 meters).
Returning NCAA qualifier Asia Rawls finished second in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:13.8.
The Eagles dominated throughout the day, placing in multiple events. The most impressive performance was in the 3,000-meter run, in which the Eagles swept the top four spots. In the long jump, four of the top six were Eagles. The pole vault was also dominated by the Eagles, placing first and having two teammates tie for third.
There were many more notable performances by the Eagles. In the long jump, Laila Foster, Tiara Oates and Melanie Hill took third, fourth and sixth, respectively. Morgan Churchwell placed second in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:57.10, just a second behind Manjon-Rivadulla. Freshman Aaliyah McKinney placed second to Yeadon in the 200-meter dash, at 25.65.
Lydia Gomez-Diaz grabbed second place in the weight throw with a 16.34-meter toss. In the 3,000-meter run Kayla Pfund, Rachael Quaintance and Cara Smock took second, third and fourth, respectively, behind fellow Eagle Voronko. The Eagles also managed a second-place finish in the 4×400-meter relay where the team of Rawls, Latipha Cross, McKinney and Iesha Hardiman finished just over a second behind the winner with a time of 3:52.36.
The Eagles have no meets until winter semester when they welcome Akron and Buffalo universities to Bowen Fieldhouse Jan. 11.
