Howard Resets 1500m Program Record at Bucknell; Owls Earn Four Gold Medals at Rider for Another Stellar Weekend

Saturday, April 13

Lawrenceville, NJ

11 am

Temple University

Rider Invite

Howard Resets 1500m Program Record at Bucknell; Owls Earn Four Gold Medals at Rider for Another Stellar Weekend

4.13.19 | Women's Track and Field

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – The Temple track and field team made the most out of a dual meet weekend, competing at both the Rider Invite and the Bucknell Outdoor Classic. The Owls were highlighted by a new school record in the 1500m from junior Millie Howard at Bucknell, and four gold medals on the day at the Rider Invite from freshman Marissa White (400m), senior Ashton Dunkley (800m), sophomore Aisha Brown (high jump) and the 4x400m relay.

Rider Invite Meet Highlights
> The Owls kicked off the Rider Invitational with a dominating performance in their first 4x100 of the season. The squad, which was composed of junior Madison Beecher, White, sophomore Sydney Williams and sophomore Kayla Nesbitt-McEwen, finished well in the event, placing second overall with a time of 47.40.
> Doing what she does best, White emerged victorious for the second time this season in the 400m dash. Straying from the event the past few weeks, she bested the field to finish first overall with a time of 55.44. Sophomore Mallorie Smith was also phenomenal in the 400m, crushing her previous personal record to finish third with a time of 56.35.
> Williams raced well in the 100m hurdles, breaking her season-best time for the second straight week to place fifth with a time of 14.64, the fastest time by an Owl this season. The sophomore shined again later in the afternoon in the 400m hurdles, when she shattered her PR to place second with a time of 1:02.74, marking another season top time for Temple. Brown also ran well in the long hurdles, finishing seventh with a time of 1:05.67.
> Beecher and Nesbitt-McEwen each raced the 100m dash for the first time this season, representing Temple well in the event. Beecher finished eighth overall with a time of 12.57, and Nesbitt-McEwen placed 13th with a time of 12.81.
> The 800m duo of senior Ashton Dunkley and sophomore McKenzie Gelvin both placed in the top-five of the 800m at the Rider Invite. Dunkley emerged victorious over the competition, finishing first overall with a time of 2:13.89. Gelvin ran the half mile in 2:16.24, good for fourth overall.
> In the field, Julianne Foering put on another solid performance in the javelin. The sophomore threw for 38.20m to earn Temple a second place finish.
> Brown brought her third high jump title back to Philadelphia, out-leaping the field at Rider. She recorded a jump of 1.75m to top 15 other competitors and earn her third individual title in the event this season.
> Candus Burks stood out in the long jump today when she posted the best jump for the Cherry and White this season. The sophomore tied her personal record of 5.63m, good for second overall. Nesbitt-McEwen also jumped well, finishing eighth with a mark of 5.28m.
> The sprinting duo of Smith and Beecher finished the Owls' final individual event of the day in good fashion, each earning a spot in the top-five. Smith finished second with a time of 25.44 and Beecher placed fourth with a time of 25.54. Burks strayed from the jumps to join her teammates in the 200m, shaving almost half a second off of her personal record with a time of 26.75.
> Temple's 4x4 also raced to victory. White, Gelvin, Dunkley and Brown clocked in at 3:53.46 to earn the top spot on the podium. They topped the field of nine teams, including a margin of nearly five seconds over second-place Rider (3:58.24).

Bison Outdoor Classic Meet Highlights
> Lucy Jones got the day started for the Owls, racing the unseeded section of the 1500m at 1:45 pm. The sophomore raced well in the event, finishing second overall with a time of 4:38.29.
> Howard highlighted the day by resetting her own school record in the 1500m by almost two seconds. The junior clocked a blazing time of 4:16.81 to take second in the seeded portion of the event. Her time currently sits as the fifth fastest in the nation, third best in the region and the best in the conference by four seconds.
> Senior Katie Leisher also had a solid 1500m performance, clocking in at 4:38.09.

From the Coach
> "It was a good day of competition for the whole team today," said head coach Elvis Forde. "Overall, it was pretty complete team performance. Hopefully we will continue to build off of this and push to get better as we go through the season.
> "We had Aisha Brown win the high jump and she had some good attempts at 1.70m with her final one at 1.75m. She looked very comfortable, and I look forward to watching her continue to improve in the event as the season progresses. She came back and ran a season's best effort in the 400m hurdles and competed again later on the 4x4 relay team. It was a busy day, but good busy, as it prepares her the rest of the season.
> "We also Mallorie Smith run one of the best races of her college career at Temple with a personal best in the 400m. Then she came back in the afternoon and had a very solid 200m, and it shows that her hard work is paying off.
> "Candus Burks had a personal best in the long jump of 5.63m, but a very good solid day with consecutive jumps that made it, and I believe the distances will come together. Julianne was also very consistent in the javelin, right around where she's been throwing all year long, but she still has some left in the tank. We do believe that she can throw much further with confidence.
> "We ran the 4x100 for the first time in a long time, and we know that foursome can get much faster, it's just a matter of putting some time into practicing this exchanges and getting more confident with each other as we exchange the baton. Overall, a really good weekend and now we look forward to another week of hard work as we prepare to head to Princeton in a week. "

Up Next
> The Owls will be back in action next weekend at the Larry Ellis Invitational, hosted by Princeton University.