Troy University Athletics
Trojans Travel to LSU Alumni Gold
4/18/2008 5:00:00 AM | Track & Field
TROY, Ala. - The Troy University track & field program hits the road again this weekend, traveling to Baton Rouge for the second consecutive weekend. This time, however, the Trojans will compete in the LSU Alumni Gold on the campus of Louisiana State University.
The Troy women, ranked 63rd in the latest USTFCCCA rankings will send eight women into competition this weekend against three of the nation's top teams. The Trojans will be paired against top-ranked LSU, third-ranked Texas A&M and 11th-ranked Auburn in many events.
Senior Juzil Rudolph will look to improve her mark in the long jump last week at the LSU Tiger Invitational, hitting the pit at 11:30 am. Last week, the Montgomery-native jumped 5.55 meters to finish sixth in the competition. She is also participating in the 100-meter hurdles and in the 200-meter dash this weekend. This season, Rudolph's best time in the 100-meters is 12.32, while in the 200-meters she set a new PR at the LSU Tiger Invitational last week with a time of 25.68 seconds.
Meanwhile, the other female student-athletes competing this weekend include sophomore Tiphanie Baker; making her first trip to Baton Rouge. The Birmingham-native will participate in the hammer at 11:30 am, followed by the discus at 2 pm. This season, Baker has set two new school records - throwing a regional qualifying distance of 50.30 meters in the discus and setting a new record with a distance of 50.84 meters in the hammer last weekend. She will be joined in the throwing competitions by teammates Shenita Howell (hammer, discus, javelin), Monique Jordan (hammer, discus), Stephanie Yawn (javelin) and Megan Young (javelin). Young will also compete in the high jump for the Trojans.
Other female athletes competing this weekend for the Trojans are senior Karla Blankenship in the pole vault, trying to improve upon her mark of 3.10 meters at the LSU Tiger Invitational last weekend. The final female student-athlete competing this weekend is senior Tawanna Meadows, competing in the 100-meters and 200-meters - two events she has qualified previously for the NCAA Regionals. She will look to improve on her regional and national standing this weekend after running a school-record 11.31 seconds in the 100-meters last weekend on the same track.
On the men's side, the 65th-ranked Trojans will face stiff competition from nationally-ranked teams Texas A&M (1), LSU (2) and Auburn (8). The Trojans will send 16 athletes into competition, led by the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams attempting to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. The 4x100-meter relay team will include Antonio McLeod, Burke Leonce, Desmond Brown and Lamar Hicks on the anchor. Last week, the team finished with a time of 40.96 seconds and narrowly missing the NCAA qualifying time of 40.66 seconds.
This will be the final road meet until the Trojans travel to the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships May 10, with the teams hosting the Coach O Invitational next weekend in Troy.
