Eastern Michigan University’s track & field team had themselves a busy weekend as they competed at the Raleigh Relays on March 24-26, and the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational, also on March 26.
On the first day in North Carolina, it was a day full of personal-best times, as three EMU distance runners each produced a career-best performance on the Paul Derr Track.
Junior Sofia Ivanko was the highlight of the day as she produced a career-best time of 35:15.15 in the 10,000m race, beating her previous best time of 36:18.70 in the event, which was set at the 2021 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships.
Ivanko’s 35:15.15 performance marked the fourth best time in program history.
Later in the day, sophomore Marcus Kemp reached a time of 3:50.97 in the 1500m race, marking his personal best as well. Following Kemp’s personal-best performance, classmate Josh Hill also achieved a personal-best time as he finished with a 14:16.49 in the 5000m race to conclude the first day at the Raleigh Relays.
The Eagles continued to excel in North Carolina on the second day of the Raleigh Relays.
Junior Faith Rono displayed her outstanding speed as she crossed the finish line in the 5000m with a personal-best time of 16:38.89. Her performance placed her at sixth all-time in EMU track & field history. Also competing in the 5000m, sophomore Esme Davies had a solid performance in her outdoor meet debut as she completed with a 17:24.37 time in the event.
Posting another career-best performance was senior Solomon Costa. Competing in the 3000m, Costa finished with a career-best time of 9:11.80. Costa’s previous fastest time in the event was 9:35.42, which was set at the 2019 Mid-American Conference Championships.
Concluding EMU’s time in North Carolina, at the Raleigh Relays, was senior Rebecca Odusola and freshman Chloie Musta. Both Odusola and Musta competed in the 800m with efforts of 2:14.65 from Odusola, and 2:19.98 from Musta.
At the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla. the Eagles produced strong performances across the board.
Senior thrower Kadian Clarke continues to impress on the year as she passed her school-record shot put mark of 14.83m with a 15.51m toss. Senior Joe Duff also put on a stellar performance as he threw 58.75m in the javelin throw.
On the track, sophomore Kilani Harvey finished with a time of 11.87 for fourth in the 100m dash, marking a personal-best. Classmate Kaleb Simpson ran a 21.37 in the 200m to finish seventh overall.
Freshman Tajay Roberts appeared in the 400m dash as he finished with a 48.52. Sophomore Noriyah Johnson ran a 55.53 in the same event to round out the top five.
Sophomore Almighty Williamson produced a 14.14 in the 110H for a fourth-place finish, and junior Angel Gazaway finished seventh in the event with a 14.11.
In the relays, the women's 4x400m team with Johnson, freshman Saraiah Walkes, junior Mair Edwards, and senior Keypathwa Gibson ran a 3:43.51 to finish in third.
For high jump, freshman Brendan Hill excelled in the outdoor opener as he hit a 2.06m clearance. Sophomore Ousman Kamara tied Hill’s score for a personal-best, while junior Nina Ward finished in third with a 1.66m clearance.
Hill and Kamara’s performance of 2.06m in the high jump marked the best score since former Eagle Cameron Hart who reached 2.07m in the 2019 Mid-American Conference Championships.
Senior Baboucar Sallah-Mohammed performed in the triple jump where she finished second with a distance of 15.35m, and also was in the long jump where she finished fourth.
Next weekend the Eagles will be back in action in East Lansing as they compete in Michigan State University’s Spartan Invitational on April 1-2, at Ralph Young Track and Field Facility.
For more information and to stay up to date with the track and field team, you can visit EMUEagles.com.
