Track & Field Completes Final Competition of 2018 at Seahawk Shootout

Friday, December 7

Staten Island, N.Y.

Temple University

Seahawk Shootout

Track & Field Completes Final Competition of 2018 at Seahawk Shootout

12.7.18 | Women's Track and Field

Results

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Temple University track and field squad wrapped up the 2018 portion of its indoor season on Friday, Dec. 7 at the Seahawk Shootout. The Owls earned 15 top 10 finishes on the day, and the meet was highlighted by multiple individual victories and Kira Von Ehren's first race in a Cherry and White track and field uniform.

Top Performances
> Sydney Williams kicked off the day for the Owls in the 60 meter hurdles. The sophomore conquered the hurdles in 9.13, winning the event overall to post Temple's first victory of the day.
> The 300 meter run was dominated by the Cherry and White, with the Owls sweeping the top three and putting four in the top 10 out of 45 runners. Freshman Marissa White captured her second victory of the year, winning the 300 with a time of 39.75. Near behind was junior Madison Beecher, who took second overall with a personal best of 40.62. Fellow junior Ebonee Jackson followed, crossing the finish line with a time of 40.98 to earn bronze in the event. Wrapping up the top 10 was Williams, who placed ninth with a time of 42.13.
> Temple shined again in the 1000 meter run, sweeping the top two spots in the event. Senior Ashton Dunkley earned gold with a personal record of 3:02.36, knocking nearly four seconds off of her previous time. Sophomore McKenzie Gelvin was neck-and-neck with her teammate, finishing second with a time of 3:02.51 in the first 1000m run of her career.
> Von Ehren hit the track for her first race in Cherry and White after a standout cross country season. The junior transfer won the 3000m by over 40 seconds, placing first with a time of 9:47.12.
> Sophomore Kayla Nesbitt-McEwen saw her first victory of the season today in the long jump, finishing first overall after jumping 5.28m. Fellow sophomore Candus Burks finished second overall with a jump of 5.23m.
> The Owls saw another one-two in the high jump, with senior Crystal Jones winning the event and Nesbitt-McEwen trailing her by .05m. Jones won after clearing a height of 1.65m, with Nesbitt-McEwen taking silver with a height of 1.60m.

From the Coach
> "It was another solid weekend, with the competition level being just what our student-athletes needed at this point in time," said head coach Elvis Forde. "Marissa White was on point today and ran a very fast 300m. As a freshman, she is running with a lot of confidence and it was great to see her out there mixing it up on the track.
> Another great race today came from Kira Von Ehren, running an impressive solo 3000m. We know there is a lot more in her tank, and she is going to go much faster as the season goes on. Madison and Ebonee both ran well in the 300m, and their times indicate that their training is going well. Regarding the jumpers, I'm sure Coach Ellison would love to see them do much more, but considering it is still early in the season we saw some solid performances. Ashton Dunkley had a good performance in the 1000m, but we know that she will get better as the season goes on. It was a good second meet for us, and now we have to work hard over break to compete against tough competition in the indoor season."

Up Next
> After getting in their final marks of 2018, the team will now take a five week hiatus from competition over the holidays. The action will start back up in 2019, when the Owls return to Staten Island, N.Y. to compete at the Great Dane Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 12.