Temple University Athletics
Friday, April 6
Princeton, N.J.
Temple University
at
Sam Howell Invite
Photo by: Don Paul
Candus Burks Wins Triple Jump at Sam Howell Invitational
4.6.18 | Women's Track and Field
Princeton, N.J. – After spending the day at Princeton's Weaver Stadium for the Sam Howell Invitational, Temple track and field will return home with several personal bests and a first place show from freshman Candus Burks.
100m
> Sophomore Mariah Slade was the Owls' top finisher in the 100-meter dash, finishing with a time of 12.83.
400 H
> Sophomore Ebonee Jackson placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 1:02.31.
> Freshman Sydney Williams finished the race in 1:06.05.
> Freshman walk-on Jaida Fenn competed for the first time for the Owls, clocking a time of 1:07.52.
800m
> Junior Ashton Dunkley represented Temple in the 800-meter, clocking a time of 2:16.15.
Long Jump
> Burks' leap of 5.62m (18' 5.25") earned her second place in the field of 27.
Triple Jump
> Burks reached a personal-best mark of 11.39m (37' 4.5") to earn the individual title, surpassing her former best of 9.87m (32' 4.5").
5000m
> Junior Katie Leisher ran a personal-best time of 17:01.36 to earn a spot in the top 10, placing eighth overall in the seeded section.
> Freshman Michelle Joyce ran the 5000-meter for Temple for the first time in the track and field season, finishing the race in 17.35.02.
Quotable
"We saw several good efforts from our student-athletes today. Ebonee ran the 400 hurdles for just the second time in her career at Temple and performed very well for not being nuanced in the race. I admired the way she approached it and the aggressive way that she ran; I believe that as she continues to run this race, she will continue to improve. Candus also made great effort today. She still has some room for improvement, but Assistant Coach Tramaine Ellison has been working well with her and has helped her to improve immensely. For her to win the triple jump, and place second in the long jump was very encouraging and it was great to see her start to make some headway in her events. Jaida ran her first race for temple today, and as a walk-on she showed great effort. She possesses a great technical aspect to her running style, and the more she can compete in the event, she can definitely make an impact. Today was also Michelle's first time running a 5000-meter race outside of the cross country season and her race was very impressive. Katie always works hard and there's no doubt that the next time she runs that she will reach her goal of running under 17:00. She is an athlete that continues to get better every race, every meet and every year. Ashton has made tremendous improvement and ran a solid race for us today. Overall we had a decent day at Princeton and I hope that the team is looking forward to competing at home next weekend for the first time." – Head coach Elvis Forde
Up Next
> Temple track and field will now prepare for its first-ever home meet at the Temple Sports Complex set for Friday, April 13 at 2 p.m
100m
> Sophomore Mariah Slade was the Owls' top finisher in the 100-meter dash, finishing with a time of 12.83.
400 H
> Sophomore Ebonee Jackson placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 1:02.31.
> Freshman Sydney Williams finished the race in 1:06.05.
> Freshman walk-on Jaida Fenn competed for the first time for the Owls, clocking a time of 1:07.52.
800m
> Junior Ashton Dunkley represented Temple in the 800-meter, clocking a time of 2:16.15.
Long Jump
> Burks' leap of 5.62m (18' 5.25") earned her second place in the field of 27.
Triple Jump
> Burks reached a personal-best mark of 11.39m (37' 4.5") to earn the individual title, surpassing her former best of 9.87m (32' 4.5").
5000m
> Junior Katie Leisher ran a personal-best time of 17:01.36 to earn a spot in the top 10, placing eighth overall in the seeded section.
> Freshman Michelle Joyce ran the 5000-meter for Temple for the first time in the track and field season, finishing the race in 17.35.02.
Quotable
"We saw several good efforts from our student-athletes today. Ebonee ran the 400 hurdles for just the second time in her career at Temple and performed very well for not being nuanced in the race. I admired the way she approached it and the aggressive way that she ran; I believe that as she continues to run this race, she will continue to improve. Candus also made great effort today. She still has some room for improvement, but Assistant Coach Tramaine Ellison has been working well with her and has helped her to improve immensely. For her to win the triple jump, and place second in the long jump was very encouraging and it was great to see her start to make some headway in her events. Jaida ran her first race for temple today, and as a walk-on she showed great effort. She possesses a great technical aspect to her running style, and the more she can compete in the event, she can definitely make an impact. Today was also Michelle's first time running a 5000-meter race outside of the cross country season and her race was very impressive. Katie always works hard and there's no doubt that the next time she runs that she will reach her goal of running under 17:00. She is an athlete that continues to get better every race, every meet and every year. Ashton has made tremendous improvement and ran a solid race for us today. Overall we had a decent day at Princeton and I hope that the team is looking forward to competing at home next weekend for the first time." – Head coach Elvis Forde
Up Next
> Temple track and field will now prepare for its first-ever home meet at the Temple Sports Complex set for Friday, April 13 at 2 p.m
Players Mentioned
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Hurdles/Mid-Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Women's Track and FieldMBB Press Conference vs. ECU (Adam Fisher)
Thursday, January 08
Temple Men's Basketball 2025-26 All Access | Game 15 vs UTSA 1.03.2026
Tuesday, January 06
MBB Press Conference vs.UTSA (Adam Fisher, Gavin Griffiths, Jordan Mason)
Sunday, January 04
MBB Press Conference vs. Princeton (Adam Fisher)
Tuesday, December 23
