Yvan Lopes Ribeiro (Nice, France) racked up two event championships in the long jump as well as the triple jump when the Eastern Michigan University track and field took to the sunshine state for the 2023 UCF Black and Gold Invite on March 17-18.
With nine top-five finishes, the team kicked off the outdoor season with a dominating tone.
Lopes Ribeiro took first in the men’s long jump with a length of 7.77m, beating out the runner-up by just .one hundredth of a meter. Lopes Ribeiro, a junior, also took home first in the triple jump event with a jump of 15.66 m, and fourth place in the 110m hurdles with a career-high time of 14.07.
Lopes Ribeiro's long jump and triple jump finishes also marked new career highs as he surpassed his previous best times of 14.06m in the triple jump and 7.63m in the long jump. He now has marked the No. 3 and No. 2 ranks in EMU history.
Almighty Williamson (Baltimore, Md.), Kaleb Simpson (Bexley, Ohio), Kyle Martin (Ypsilanti, Mich.), and Richie Salder (Greenville, S.C.) make up EMU's 400m relay team as they finished runner-up to Rutgers with a time of 40.734.
Williamson would then compete in the 100m hurdles where he finished third place with a time of 14.05, while Simpson competed in the 100m hurdles as he finished in fourth with a time of 10.48.
The women’s side was led by senior Angel Gazaway who finished third in the 100m hurdles and fifth in the 400m hurdles with a career-high time of 1:01.25, which marked the ninth-best finish for the event in EMU history.
Miranda Caldwell competed in the hammer throw where she completed a toss of 53.69m for fifth place.
The team will now prepare for the Raleigh Relays, hosted by North Carolina State University, on March 23-25.
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