Track & Field Earns Four Top Finishes at Season Opener

Saturday, December 5

Bethlehem, Pa.

All Day

Temple University

Fast Time Meet

Track & Field Earns Four Top Finishes at Season Opener

12.5.15 | Women's Track and Field

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Temple track & field returns home to Philadelphia with first-place finishes in four events following its first meet of the indoor season. The Owls saw five personal records at Saturday's Fast Times Meet hosted by Lehigh, and at least one athlete in the top 10 in each of the nine events they participated in.

"I felt from the start of today's competition that our team has prepared much better and was much more excited than last year," said head coach Elvis Forde. Coach Forde was extremely impressed with the bar set by his newcomers, who were the first Owls to run at the Rauch Field House.

In the 60 meter hurdles, freshman Sylvia Wilson opened the meet off with a first-place finish in the event after running a personal-best time of 8.71 seconds. In the 60 meter hurdles final, Temple runners were represented in four of the six spots out of a qualifying pool of more than 30 runners.

Simone Brownlee finished with the bronze in the event after running a personal-best time of 8.88 and was closely followed by junior Sydnee Jacques who ran her own personal-best time of 8.95 to finish in fourth. Freshman Crystal Jones rounded out the event, recording a time of 9.11 to finish fifth.

In the 60 meter dash, Wilson continued her debut success, leading the Owls with a qualifying time of 7.82 seconds and finishing fourth in the finals with a time of 7.85 seconds. In the qualifiers, senior Courtney Mitchell ranked second for the Owls and seventh of all runners with a time of 7.95 seconds, just .05 seconds off her personal-best mark.

Sophomore Cacie Rosario ran the 60 meter dash in a time 8.26 to record a personal best in her first meet of the season.

In the 500 meter race, junior Kenya Gaston led the Owls and earned a personal-best time after running a 1:15.53 to place second overall.

All four Owls that ran in the 500 meter race recorded personal bests. Senior Demeshia Davis ran a 1:18.27 in the event to take third, with freshman Aliya Sharp and sophomore Attallah Goodman also finishing in the top 10.

Freshmen Maya Halprin-Adams and Erica Groomes, along with newcomer Gabriela Rodriguez, made their mark in the 1000 meter race. Halprin-Adams led the Owls with a time of 3:06 with Rodriguez recording a 3:21.90. Groomes recorded her personal-best time in the event, finishing in 3:10.

Senior Jamila Janneh and freshman Crystal Jones both competed in the high jump, with Jones recording a personal-best jump of 5'7" to place third overall. Janneh completed 4'11" to finish in a five-way tie for ninth.

Seniors Bionca St. Fleur and Imani Shell dominated the long jump, earning the gold and silver in the event, respectively. St. Fleur set a mark of 18' 10.50" and Shell recorded an 18' 3.25". The Owls topped a field of 38 jumpers to earn the first and second spots overall.

In the triple jump, Jacques finished in first place with a 38' 6.25" jump to top a group of 24 athletes. Junior Simone Chapman also competed in this event, recording a 36' 11" jump to place fourth overall.

Fifteen Owls ran the 200 meter race, with five placing in the top 10 out of 78 total runners. Gaston and St. Fleur earned gold and silver, with Gaston's time of 25.37 leading the Owls and the entire group. Sharp, Davis and Jacques all earned spots within the top 10 for their runs.

Three groups of Owls raced in the 4x400 meter relay, with Davis, Sharp, St. Fleur, and Gaston running their relay in 3:54.15 to take second overall. Shell, Rosario, Chapman, and Rodriguez finished 10th, recording a relay time of 4:18.84.

'The freshman set the tempo from the first event of the day today," said Coach Forde. "Hopefully this can continue for the rest of the year, but we have to continue to work hard and improve every weekend. We have one week of practice yet and I think we can look to the rest of season with a very good attitude."

The Owls are not back in action until the start of the New Year, traveling to Staten Island, N.Y., on Jan. 8 for the Villanova Meet.