From NYU Athletics
The New York University women's track & field team has completed competition at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Outdoor Championships, which were hosted by the University of Chicago in Chicago, IL, on Saturday-Sunday, April 22-23.
NYU compiled 52 points through the two days, trailing fifth-place Carnegie Mellon University (86) by 34 points. Washington University in St. Louis defended their outdoor title with 213.50 points.
The Violets started off with a bang, as phenom Evelyn Nkanga continued her impressive freshman campaign. The Sayreville, NJ, native captured the triple jump title, clearing a distance of 11.39m. She missed setting a personal-best by one-hundredth of a second. Senior Simone Cooper followed in fourth by clearing a jump of 11.06m to narrowly miss taking a spot on the podium.
"Evelyn is killing it," said Head Coach Erison Hurtault. "She comes in here looking to perform well and she does perform well. Someone we are happy to have for the next three years."
Sophomore Mimi Conti secured a silver medal in the 400m dash, easily registering a new school record time of 56.55 in only her second 400m of the season. The previous record was set by former sprinter and coach Lauren Henkel in 2004.
"This was a really big race for Mimi," said Hurtault. "She put herself in very good company, sitting 13thnationally. She had a breakthrough performance. She took down a couple of All-Americans on her way to second place."
Conti and Nkanga returned to the track and teamed up with juniors Ireland Gibson and Meagan Davis in the 4x400m relay. The foursome almost landed on the podium, but settled for fourth place with a season-best time of 4:00.19.
Also narrowly missing the podium was Erini Farid. The junior placed fourth in the javelin throw with a toss of 28.33m. Following behind in her javelin debut was senior Dana Placentra in sixth place, clearing a distance of 27.03m.
"That was big for Erini and Dana," said Hurtault. "We expected Erini to do well due to her progress during the season. Dana came back from a disappointing pole vault to compete in the javelin and score. Wish we gave her a javelin earlier in the season."
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Sophomore Sabrina Herrmann finished fifth in the 5,000m, registering a time of 18:01.19. Lara Dorskytrailed behind in 14th with a time of 18:51.27.
"Women's distance in the UAA is probably one of the toughest conferences in the country, so I am very proud of Sabrina," said Hurtault.
- Freshman Helen Joyner scored two points for NYU with a seventh-placed finish in the discuss throw with a launch of 31.13m.
- Senior Justine Morris and Davis finished in stride of one another in 13th (5:00.16) and 14th place (career-best 5:00.32) in the 1,500m, respectively.
"I am really proud of the team," said Hurtault. "We were getting points in throws, getting points in the jumps, the distance. I think this is the first time we have seen the women's side getting it down all across the board."