Troy University Athletics
LIVE FROM KNOXVILLE: Final Thoughts
5/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- A dozen of Troy's best track and field athletes are at Tennessee's Tom Black Track this weekend for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship with bigger and better things in mind. The top performers here join athletes from three other regionals in Sacramento, Calif., in two weeks for the NCAA Championships.
Assistant Media Relations Director Jim Stephan is with the team and will provide real-time updates from Knoxville.
Saturday evening, May 27
(7:40) The Mideast Regional Championship came to a close Saturday night with no Trojans automatically advancing to the national meet. Louis Harris and the 4x100 team will have an outside shot at at-large bids, but that is not likely. Overall, it was a great season.
(7:28) Michael Acree jumped 46-feet, 11 1/2-inches on his third attempt after fouling on the first two. However, that was not good enough to advance to the final.
(5:15) The Troy 4x100 relay team bested yesterday's qualifying time by .02 seconds, finishing sixth with a time of 40.30. The quartet missed a top-three spot and automatic qualification in the nationals by just .34 seconds.
The team is still in the national pool for an at-large bid to Sacramento in two weeks with the second-fastest time in school history.
Saturday afternoon, May 27
(3:40) Midway through the second flight, Heck was eliminated from finals contention.
(3:22) Michael Heck has completed his three tosses and posted the fourth-best distance in the first flight with a throw of 53-feet, 6 1/-inches (16.31 meters). His first attempt covered 50-feet, 2-inches (15.29 meters), while he fouled (out of the sector) on his second. He wound up 19th.
Saturday morning, May 27
With the end of the women's season last night, it was pretty quiet at the hotel this morning. Besides, without preliminaries, the events start about an hour later today. The exception is the field events, where Michael Heck has his chance at the shotput starting at 3.
Coach Lambert, Heck and I came over at 12:45 because each shotput is weighed and measured 2 hours before. The meet officials then keep it and bring it to the venue, so that nothing "funny" happens. The rest of the team has just arrived as they left the hotel at 2:15.
Everyone is packed and ready to go home later tonight. The competition is starting, so check back for Michael's distances.
It was a nice surprise to see the Trojans mentioned in the Knoxville Sentinel this morning. After the relay team qualified for the finals, I pitched a cute story idea to the media attending the championship. About an hour before the required check-in, the two seniors (Michael and Louis) lifted their warmups to show white tops over black shorts. However, the two newcomers to the team (DeLaRente and Lamar) sported black body suits.
Our hotel is about 20 minutes away, so Coach Lambert and student assistant Rochelle Black had Melvin Hines (Director of Student-Athlete Services and my roommate for the weekend) take them back. Lambert told me when they pulled into hotel, it was like the Delta Force. With everyone assigned duties, they picked up the missing uniforms and made it back with 20 minutes to spare. Needless to say, the Tennessee State Patrol missed a chance for some revenue as they may have exceed the speed limit by a bit.
Friday evening, May 26
(9:10 p.m.) Troy concludes its events with only the 4x100 meter team advancing out of Friday's preliminaries. They will run at 5:10 tomorrow. Meanwhile, Michael Heck gets his chance to earn a spot at the NCAA National Championship when the shotput preliminary gets underway at 3 p.m. and Michael Acree gets another shot in the 6 p.m. triple jump.
(9:05 p.m.) Louis Harris bettered his qualifying time by .22 seconds, running 20.90 in his preliminary, but will not advance to tomorrow's final.
(8:59 p.m.) Tanisha Davis completed her competition with the 200-meter dash, posting a time of 24.37, last in her heat. She represented the last chance for the Trojan women to compete in Saturday's finals.
(7:45 p.m.) Michael Acree completed his three attempts in the long jump, but did not meet the standard to advance to the final. His first try was his best, 24-feet, 1-inch (7.34 meters), while he also recorded 24-feet, 3/4-inches (7.33 meters) and 22-feet, 7-inches (6.88 meters). The current mark to advance to the finals is 24-feet, 2 1/2-inches (7.38 meters).
(6:50 p.m.) Troy had two competitors in the women's 100 meters race, Tawanna Meadows. Davis finished fifth in her heat at 11.69, while Meadows finished last in her heat with time of 12.21.
(5:25 p.m.) Monique Johnson finished fifth in her heat with an official time of 13.74 and will not advance to tomorrow's final. Her time was .07 seconds off the school-record time she ran at the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
(4:26 p.m.) The men's 4x100 relay team posted an official time of 40.32. The time was seventh of the 20 overall and puts the Trojans INTO TOMORROW'S FINAL. "I expected us to advance, but I am still relieved," said Lancaster. "I know we can still do better, though."
(4:08 p.m.) The women's 4x100 relay team had a slow handoff and finished fourth in its heat with an official time of 48.50. The time placed 12th among the 13 teams, so Troy did not advance to the tomorrow's final.
(2:15 p.m.) The team has arrived at Tom Black Stadium and has begun to warm up. Field events are continuing and the track events start at 4.
Friday morning, May 26
The dawn of Friday brought the first day of competition at the NCAA Mideast Regional. The breakfast area of the hotel was quiet until about 9, when the first of the ladies on the trip ventured down for a brief workout. It was primarily stretching and flexibility exercises as you don't want a lot of exertion on meet day.
A small contingent of us - Coaches Lambert and Lancaster, Michael Heck and I - headed over to the track early to watch the men's hammer throw at 11. Michael has the benefit of another off day as his competition - the shotput - doesn't take place until Saturday at 3.
The rest of the team is slated to leave the hotel at 2:15, allowing plenty of time to warm up before the first event at 4. That's when the women's relay team of Shakavia Henderson, Mildred Harris, Tawanna Meadows and Jocelyn Williams will run. The men's team of Michael Acree, Louis Harris, DeLaRenta Hawkins and Lamar Hicks follows 15 minutes later.
The other events today are the women's 100-meter hurdles (Monique Johnson) at 5:25, the long jump (Acree) at 6, the women's 100 meters (Tanisha Davis and Meadows) at 6:40, the women's 200 (Davis) at 8:40 and the men's 200 (Harris) at 9. The heat winners and other best times fill out the eight-person final on Saturday.
Wednesday and Thursday, May 24-25
The team departed at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, arriving in Knoxville about 4 after the time change. After a short time at the hotel to check-in, unpack and relax, it was off to the track for an informal workout. In essence, it was what most coaches consider "getting the bus out", or letting the legs start working after six hours of sleeping, listening to music, watching movies and/or watching the trees roll by.
The team ate dinner at a local steakhouse, then headed off to the rooms to get a good night sleep.
Thursday was the official practice day, meaning different areas were only open to competitors at certain times. That meant an early run to the stadium for Heck's 1 p.m. practice time, and a trip to the mall and a movie before a second run for the rest at 5.
The shotput practice was quick -- stretching, a couple of technique drills and "eight to 10 good throws", according to Lambert. So quick, in fact, that I missed the whole thing when I went to pick up credentials and take a tour of the facility. Luckily, I was planning to stay and work anyway, because the bus was long gone when I re-entered the track stadium.
The second practice session involved more stretching and flexibility before the relay teams practiced handoffs and visited their zones. Acree had a chance to try out the long jump runway, feel the sand and measure off his steps. Coach told me later he hasn't made a true jump this week because he is ready.
The team ate on its own Thursday as the coaches and I had official meetings to attend. Presumably, they enjoyed one last quiet night at the botel before the madness begins.
