COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State
University women's track and field team will see where they stack up with the
rest of the conference, Friday, with the beginning of the 2010 Ohio Valley
Conference Track and Field Championships. The meet will begin at 1 p.m.,
Friday, at Tucker Stadium, hosted by Tennessee Tech
Defending their crowns in both men and
women's track and field will be Eastern Illinois, who followed up winning the
2009 outdoor titles by taking the 2010 Indoor titles as well.
"It's the conference meet; everybody gets
pumped up about it," said head coach Doug Molnar. "I'm sure we'll have lots of
nerves, but we've got some good senior leadership that has gone through this
before. I feel pretty comfortable there."
The Lady Govs will be led for the last time
by senior pole vaulters Molly Bartkiewicz and Carrie Burggraf. Burggraf has the
best mark in the OVC in pole vault this season and is the two-time defending
champion in that event; Bartkiewicz, the 2007 OVC champion, would like nothing
better than to even the score and grab her second conference title.
Freshmen Leigha Tolliver and Cenitra Hudson
have battled injuries during outdoor season but were strong indoor contributors
that Coach Molnar will need to have step up for the Lady Govs.
"Those two freshman are two big cogs in our
machine," said Molnar. "They've been nursing injuries most of the spring and
we've really had to slow them down more than when we were in indoor. Hopefully,
since we've rested them the last couple of weeks, they'll be at 100 percent."
On the track, Austin Peay would like to see
junior Chiamaka Obi, last season's 400-meter dash champion, take home the crown
again this season. Sophomore Jasmin Scott, who was sixth last year in the
400-meter dash, will see if a year of experience will allow her to move into
the top five.
Senior Amanda McCoy will go on both the track
and the field, looking to erase last season's memories of hitting a hurdle on
the way to a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles and a disappointing
ninth place finish in the high jump.
"We're excited for this event," said Molnar.
"It's a fun time of year."
- AP -
