Troy University Athletics
Individual Titles at Tuscaloosa
3/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Despite the thunderstorms that shortened the Alabama Relays on Sunday, Troy track and field teams had a successful weekend as they took three individual titles at the Sam Bailey Track and Field Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
In the decathlon on Thursday and Friday, senior Matt VanZandt dominated by winning six of 10 events. He won the 100-meter dash, 400-meter run, 110-meter hurdles, long lump, pole vault, and javelin throw.
VanZandt earned a total of 6883 points, which broke the Troy decathlon record set in 2000 by Joe Gillaspie, who captured 6049 points. VanZandt's total was only 117 points short of an NCAA provisional qualifying mark for the event.
We were hoping Matt would hit 7000 points, but he came up a bit short on the second day's events,” said Troy women's and multi-event coach Jill Lancaster. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll be there before the season is over.”
The second Trojan to take an individual title was junior Brandon Hughes in the 5,000-meter run. Hughes came in first with a time of 14:35.27, which was a personal best time.
Brandon ran an intelligent race and is well on his way to qualifying for the NCAA Regionals in the 5,000m,” said Troy distance coach John Anderson.
Sophomore Tawanna Meadows landed the individual first place title in the 100-meter dash coming in with a time of 11.80 seconds. This is her second week winning the 100m, earning her a temporary title as one of Alabama's fastest female sprinters.
This was the first time that Troy has won three individual events at the Alabama Relays.
On the women's side, senior Tanisha Davis tied with Oriana Carter from UAB for second in the 100m with a time of 11.86 seconds.
Freshman Monique Jordan made a huge improvement in the hammer throw when made a toss of 147-11 for eighth place, which was better than her previous best throw of 16 feet. This put Jordan third on the list in the Troy women's top performances for the hammer.
Jordan also placed fifth in the discus when she threw 140-10, missing the school record by less than two feet. Her teammate, sophomore Shenita Howell had a personal best in the discus when she had a throw of 137-01.
In the 100-meter hurdles, junior Monique Johnson finished seventh with a personal best time of 14.58 seconds. Johnson's efforts moved her to third place on the Troy list of women's top performances.
Freshman Laide Onikoyi came from 30 meters back in her heat to win seventh in the 800-meter run with a time 2:15.04. She is the fourth fastest in 800m of Troy women's top performances.
On the men's side, senior Louis Harris opened up the 100m with a time of 10.76 seconds against a light headwind and earned second place overall in the event. He also placed seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.76 seconds.
Senior Michael Acree showed his talent in his specialty, the long jump, when he took second place with his first jump of 24-03.00 despite having strained his hamstring on the second jump.
In the javelin throw, freshman Norman Austin had a toss of 179-05, which put him in fourth place.
Junior DeLaRenta Hawkins ran to a time of 49.09 seconds in the 400m finishing respectively in tenth and dedicating it to his grandmother who passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday.
We had some solid performances and some excellent ones in Brandon, Matt and Tawanna,” said Troy head track and field coach Bob Lambert.
It was a shame that the second day was basically rained out due to the thunderstorms, but it made no sense to run in relays in the 43 degree rainy weather when our focus is really on the second weekend in May in Lafayette, La. and in the Sun Belt Conference Championships,” Lambert said.
Troy track and field teams continue competition at the Springtime Invitational at Auburn University on March 25.
