Troy University Athletics
Troy Heads to BSC Invitational
3/13/2009 5:00:00 AM | Track & Field
TROY, Ala. - With the indoor season behind them, the Troy University track and field program will look to improve on their top five finishes in the SunBelt Conference in 2008 by opening their season at the Birmingham-Southern Track and Field Invitational Saturday afternoon.
Not all of the student-athletes on the roster will compete this weekend, with senior Agata Cichoszewska sitting out this weekend's meet after a grueling indoor season that saw her just miss out on qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The senior finished 20th in the nation in the triple jump with a new school record jump of 12.98 meters, missing out by just two spots as the NCAA took the top 18 to the championships.
This weekend, the Trojans will send numerous student-athletes to the meet with some competing in events that they will not compete in the rest of the season but just to get them some action.
"A lot of the athletes who did not have events in indoors are excited," Troy Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jill Lancaster said. "Many of the athletes will be trying new events or doing off events this week to get ready for the remainder of the season."
The meet will start at 10 am with the men's and women's hammer throw. The Trojans will send three men and three women each into competition in the first field event of the day; headlined by school recordholder Tiphanie Baker on the women's side. The junior, an indoor Sun Belt Conference champion this season, holds the school record in the hammer throw with a distance of 50.84 meters last season. She will be joined by senior Monique Jordan, who is currently second all-time at the school in the event with a throw of 49.38 meters last season. The duo will be joined by senior Stephanie Yawn. On the men's side, the Trojans will send senior Ryan Schmeling and sophomores Scott Neal and Michael Martin into the ring for competition.
Other field events that kick off the meet include the men's and women's shot put competition. The Trojans will send three men and two women into competition on Saturday morning. Senior Mike Conley will make his 2009 debut for the Trojans in the shot put, as will junior Leander McKenzie. Both of these student-athletes will compete in the decathlon at meets later this season, and will get practice in areas throughout the season. They will be joined by Neal in the shot put. On the women's side, Baker and Jordan will compete against each other to try and medal in the event.
In the women's long jump competition, Ariel Cavazos will be the only student-athlete to compete on either side for the Trojans. This season, Cavazos finished 13th in the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in the same event earlier this season. She jumped a personal-best 5.50 meters at the championships.
Chontia Allen and Kapri Hockaday will compete in the high jump for the Trojans, beginning at 10 am. Both student-athletes will compete in the Heptathlon this season for the Trojans and both competed in the high jump during the indoor season for the Trojans. Allen's best performance in the event came at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships when she jumped 1.48 meters. Meanwhile, Hockaday finished fourth in the Sun Belt this season with a jump of 1.63 meters just two weeks ago. She cleared 1.68 meters on two different occassions, and won the gold medal at the Tiger Indoor Invitational earlier this season in indoor competition.
On the men's side, Grant Bullington and Erik Burkett will make their 2009 debuts for the Trojans. Bullington competed last season as a freshman for Troy, clearing a personal best of 2.00 meters last season, while Burkett will compete for the first time this season for the Trojans as a true freshman.
The field events will continue at 12:30 with Nicole Polk, the indoor school recordholder at Troy, will compete in her first outdoor competition for the Trojans. On the men's side, Bullington and Joseph Callaway will look to improve on their scoring efforts last season at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. They will be joined by Conley and McKenzie in the competition.
The final events in the field competition will begin at 3 pm with the javelin and the triple jump. The women will send Yawn into competition in the javelin, while the men will send Bullington, Conley and McKenzie into competition in their third event of the day. They will be joined by newcomers Kevin Keyes and MacKenzie Howell. Meanwhile, in the triple jump competition, the Trojans will send Calvin Irons into compeition on the men's side and Hockaday on the women's side.
The track events begin at 10 am with the 100-meters preliminaries. The Trojan women will send Cavazos, Allen and Shay Matthews into competition in the first track event. Allen and Matthews both competed for the Trojans sparingly in the 100-meters last season, while Cavazos will make her debut in the event this weekend. Meanwhile, the Trojan men will send seven student-athletes into competition this weekend in the event. Dennis Acree, Michael Alexander, Logan Etheridge, Shane George, Irons, Payton McGhee, Antonio McLeod and Lamontrey Stamper will all make their debut this weekend in the event. Acree, Alexander, McLeod and Stamper have all seen action in this event at some point in the career, while McLeod competed with the 4x100-meter relay team last season. Notable student-athletes not competing in the 100-meters this weekend are senior Lamar Hicks and Burke Leonce.
The Trojans will also send Allen, Latoya Ragland and Naquita Rowe into competition in the 100-meter hurdles Saturday morning. Ragland challenged for the women's indoor championship at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships en route to setting a new school record in the indoor event. On the men's side, Bullington, Burkett and Conley will compete in the 110-meter hurdles. Burkett is the defending state champion in Alabama in the event, while Conley competed in the event last season for the Trojans. Leander McKenzie, the school recordholder in the event, will not compete in the opening meet of the season in the event.
Jenean Corcoran is the next Trojan to take the track in the 5000-meters at 11:35 am, the only student-athlete on either side to compete in the event.
The afternoon session will see 10 events, with Trojans competing in all of the events - including the 4x100-meter relay on the men's side. The team of Hicks, Matavis Madden, McLeod and Leonce will look to qualify for the NCAA Regionals this season after narrowly missing the mark last season. The women's team in the 4x100-meter relay is totally new this season with Cavazos, Ragland, Rowe and Matthews competing for the Trojans.
The meet will feature the 1500-meters with Erika Fyrvall, Kelly Harrington and Anastacia Limo making their 2009 debuts for the Trojans; while Adam Bradley, Terrence Dixon, Drew Horner, Brett Lewis, Jeremy Moujoodi and Denzel Ramirez will make their 2009 debuts for the men Saturday afternoon.
The meet concludes with the finals in the 100-meters, 100-meter hurdles, 110-meter hurdles, 800 meters, 400-meter hurdles, 200 meters, 3000-meter steeplechase and the 1600-meter relay.
