HAVERFORD, Pa.– Eastern University Men's and Women's Track and Field opened the 2019 Indoor Season with a partial squad at the Haverford Holiday Meet. With athletes who competed in fall sports waiting until January to start competing on the track, the focus of the day was on the sprints and field events.

For the Women:
Caitlyn Newport won the high jump with new personal best of 1.55m and Kaitlin Bell took second in the pole vault with a new indoor personal record of her own.

Cecilia Jones and and Tara Ford both placed in the 400. Jones won the event by nearly a second and a half. Ford finished in fifth a few tenths of a second behind the runner-up. Jasmine Gonzalez finished third in the 60-meter hurdles in her first collegiate race.

For the Men:
The Eagles led through all three exchanges to win the 4x200 meter relay to open the meet. Ajay Foster, Taylor Danglade, Jake Krah, and Jhaunell Burnside never trailed in the race. Foster followed the effort with a win in the 60 meter dash, and the Eagles placed four runners in the top ten in that event. Michael Shea won the 60 meter hurdles in his freshman year debut. The Eagles finished fifth in the MAC Championships last year, but in that meet did not score a point in an individual race shorter than 400 meters.

Ethan Dionne finished second in the pole vault with a personal-best 4.10 meter vault. Evan Wildermuth and Teni Oladeji placed second and third in the long jump. This was the first competition in over a year for Oladeji, who missed last year with injury. Aron Szenczy got his season off to a good start with a 1.95 meter high jump.

Coach Wilson says:

"Overall, I think we had a really nice day. Early-season meets are always good opportunities to see what needs work, and we got a lot of early feedback on that. That said, our crew looks excellent for a December meet."

"Caitlyn Newport had the effort of the day. She works tirelessly and consistently, so it's very rewarding to see her hard work pay off. She was thrilled, and I think everybody was excited for Caitlyn today."

"Kaitlin Bell picked up the pole vault about this time last year and she's taking off in it! It's fun to see her jumping two feet higher than last year with plenty more upside potential."

"I'm thrilled with the results from our freshman hurdlers. Both Michael Shea and Jasmine Gonzalez posted great efforts in their first collegiate races. I'm looking forward to seeing what our freshman class can do as the year moves forward."

"Ethan Dionne, after not qualifying indoor in the pole vault last year, posted a 13'6 jump and barely hit the bar on his way down on a 14' attempt. He qualified to conferences in his first meet, posted a 3rd place finish, and looked good doing it. I'm excited to see him take off this year."

"Overall, we had a great day across the board. I'm excited to get back to some training in the coming month before getting into the bulk of our season. We look good early, but we know there is plenty more to come."

Up Next:
The Eagles resume competition at Franklin and Marshall in January.