EMU senior Grant Amoateng (Bristow, Va./Patriot) wrapped up his illustrious career on Saturday, jumping at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio. Michaela Chowning (Urbanna, Va./Middlesex) also went to Nationals, taking 21st in the high jump on Friday.
For the third straight national outdoor meet, Amoateng finished in 13th place in the triple jump at 14.60m (47ft-11.00in). It was his best jump ever on the national stage.
Part of the second flight, Amoateng started Saturday with a solid jump of 14.52m and sat in 11th place. He made an improvement on his second attempt, landing at 14.60m, but slid to 13th. Needing to break his PR to get into the top nine and advance to the finals, Amoateng fouled on his third attempt.
Coach Erick Camodeca said Amoateng made his stamp as one of the best athletes in program history.
“I can’t say enough how proud we are of Grant,” Camodeca said. “He’s been a great ambassador for this program. His charisma, leadership, and competitiveness will be greatly missed. I look forward to him being there for his Hall of Honor ceremony in ten years.”
Combined between the indoor and outdoor seasons, Amoateng has participated in four NCAA National Championships in his career. Only three men in program history have made more trips to Nationals: Jeremy Webster (seven), Nathan Turner (five) and Michael Allen (five).
Amoateng set his PR in the event earlier this season, with his distance of 14.80m (48ft-6.75in) standing at No. 2 in the EMU record books. He is also No. 2 in EMU history in the indoor triple jump at 14.37m (47ft-1.75in), No. 2 in the indoor long jump at 6.92m (22ft-8.5in), and No. 5 in the outdoor long jump at 6.90m (22ft-7.75in).
Outside of the jumps, Amoateng is also on the EMU top-10 lists in a number of sprints: 60m at 7.24 (No. 6), 55m at 6.84 (No. 10), and 100m at 11.25 (No. 10).
Chowning makes first trip to Nationals
Chowning finished 21st in the high jump on Friday. She was one of five freshmen in the 22-person field.
After winning the high jump at the ODAC Championships last month, Chowning exceeded her goals at the national meet in Geneva, Ohio. She cleared the initial height of 1.56m on her second try, and notched 1.61m despite bumping the bar on her third and final attempt.
A knee injury kept Chowning out of the indoor track & field season, making a good appearance at Nationals even more impressive with her physical and mental return to competition.
Coach Erick Camodeca explained that Chowning’s trip to Nationals is only the first step to a promising four years at Eastern Mennonite, especially after she recovers from offseason surgery.
“Our goal for Michaela was to get experience out here, and to clear a height,” he said. “We definitely accomplished those goals. We are looking forward to her recovery after this surgery, so we can start implementing a lot more drills and strength training she wasn’t able to do this season because of the injury.”
Her season PR of 1.69m (5ft-6.5in) is No. 2 in EMU history.