DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's track and field team continued its dominance in Peach Belt Conference competition, winning its fifth conference title in as many seasons, Friday at the Embry-Riddle Track and Field Complex. The Eagles amassed 369 points in the two-day meet to top the seven-team field ahead of Columbus State (103 points) and Flagler (102 points).
After
Amberleigh Sauer (11.90m) and
Madison Morris (11.66m) totaled 14 points for the Eagles in the shot put, the freshman duo of
Mikaela Miles and
Michala Daniels finished one-two in the triple jump with Miles recording the second-best mark in program history of 12.05m and Daniels posting a leap of 10.98m.
The afternoon session on the track started with the 4x100m relay and the Embry-Riddle quartet of
Shenya Patrice,
Cerenity Daise, Daniels and
Nina Richardson took home gold for the first time in the program's PBC history with a time of 48.27.
The Eagles also took the top two spots in the 100m hurdles as
Sierra Coward won the event in 14.97 followed by
Dejah Saunders in 15.95.
In the heptathlon,
Laura McBride scored 4,177 points to take home gold for the Eagles.
Sydney Cash tallied 3,613 points to finish second.
The 200m dash featured a career-best performance by Patrice who crossed in 25.05 to take third, just ahead of
Nina Richardson who was fourth in 25.40.
McBride was back at the top spot on the podium again later in the day after breaking the tape in the 400m hurdles in 1:02.92.
The Eagles completed the relay sweep with a win in the 4x400m as Patrice, Dudley,
Caroline Harris and McBride teamed up for the final gold medal of the meet with a time of 3:59.16.
Following the meet, the PBC handed out a few special awards based on athletic and academic achievement. Coward totaled 26 points in the two-day meet to earn Field Athlete of the Year Honors for the second straight year. Miles was tabbed as the Freshman Field Athlete of the Year, while Dudley was named to the All-Sportsmanship team.
The PBC Elite 16 Award presented by Barnes & Noble College recognizes the student-athlete competing in the championship with the highest cumulative GPA. This year's winner was Kelley Steffens who has a 4.0 GPA in Homeland Security.
ERAU Head Coach Mike Rosolino was voted Coach of the Year for the fourth time in five seasons in the PBC.
The Eagles will have two more chances to qualify for nationals, beginning with the East Coast Relays in Jacksonville on April 28.