NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women's track and field team saw good performances both on the track and in the field at the TSU Invite, Saturday, on the Wilma Rudolph Indoor Track inside the Gentry Center.
"Everybody really got after it today," said assistant track and field coach Troy Morris. "We wanted to emphasize that this is where the conference meet is going to be and we needed to become familiar with it."
On the track, the Lady Govs got big boosts from multiple top-10 finishes. Junior Candace Johnson was 10th in the 200-meter dash with a 26.24 mark, while sophomore Jasmin Scott was eighth in the 400-meter dash with a 59.78 time. Sophomore Janelle Avery broke out of her slump with an eighth-place finish in the 800-meter run at a 2:24.93 clip, and senior Shamai Larsen was sixth in the 5000-meter run in a 19:35.80 time. The relay team did its part as well, finishing fourth in the 4x400-meter relay with a 4:01.74 mark.
The field competitors held up to their usual standards. Freshman Leigha Tolliver was runner-up in the long jump (5.66 meters; 18-07.00) and the triple jump (11.54 meters; 37-10.50); classmate Cenitra Hudson was sixth in the long jump with a 5.26 meter (17-03.25) mark. Junior Latoya Monger was fourth (1.60 meters; 5-03.00) and senior Amanda McCoy tied for fifth (1.55 meters; 5-01.00) in the high jump.
"Monger had a great meet for us," said Morris. "Hudson and Tolliver are really coming along as freshmen; Hudson really stepped up in a relay spot for us."
The pole vaulters came back to earth in this meet despite senior Carrie Burggraf finished first at 3.80 meters (12-05.50), which is well below what she had been putting up this season. Classmate and fellow NCAA provisional qualifier Molly Bartkiewicz did not record a height. Sophomore Brianna Lococo had her best finish as a Lady Gov, earning a third-place mark with a 3.20 meter (10-6.00) height.
"Molly is still deciding what pole to use; she'll be fine when she figures that out," said Morris. "Brianna really picked up the slack for us today."
-AP-
