Troy University Athletics
Troy Travels to Georgia Relays
3/19/2009 5:00:00 AM | Track & Field
TROY, Ala. - The Troy University men's and women's track and field teams will head to Athens, Ga. this weekend to take part in a star-studded field at the Georgia Relays, held on the campus of the University of Georgia.
The Trojans are coming off a 21-medal performance last weekend at the Southern Invitational (Birmingham-Southern), with the men winning the overall title and the women finishing second overall. In that meet, the student-athletes were entered into events to assist them getting ready for this weekend.
The field this weekend will have the look of the a Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championship meet with the likes of UALR, Denver, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, South Alabama, ULM and WKU entered into the event. Although the conference meet is still over two months away, the Trojans will get a look at other conference competition this weekend.
The meet will also feature national powers such as Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Florida State, Texas and Texas A&M. It will also feature teams that the Trojans have competed against in other meets such as Georgia Tech, Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Clemson, Colorado, Florida and Tennessee. The Trojans will also see teams that they would only normally see at national meets such as Arizona, Air Force, Akron, Boise State, Boston College, BYU, Cal State-Fullerton, George Washington, Gonzaga, Maryland and USC.
Troy will go with a similar line-up this weekend with the return of seniors Agata Cichoszewska and Norman Austin to the line-up. Cichoszewska took last weekend off to heal from a grueling indoor season in which she finished in the Top 20 in the nation in the triple jump. She is a two-time NCAA Mideast All-Region selection, earning the first All-Region award for a female student-athlete at Troy University in 2007. She was named a team captain at the beginning of the season, and is second all-time at the school in the triple jump with a distance of 12.69 meters. She is just 0.01 meters short of the school record held by Sherion Taylor, set in 2003.
Austin returns to the line-up after taking last weekend off to prepare for this weekend's meet. He is a NCAA Mideast All-Region selection, who is also the school's all-time recordholder in the javelin with a distance of 64.78 meters (212'6").
Junior Tiphanie Baker, who won two golds and a silver last weekend, will be tested against the nation's best this weekend. Baker holds the school record in the shot put and the hammer throw in indoors, and holds the school record in the discus and the hammer (set last weekend in Birmingham). Senior Lamar Hicks will also highlight the roster this weekend for the Trojans. Last season, Hicks challenged for the fastest man in the Sun Belt Conference last season by finishing second in the 100-meters.
The meet will begin on Friday afternoon with the hammer for the men at 1:30, and will run until the final event which begins on Saturday at 5:40 pm (1600-meter relay). Check back on www.TroyTrojans.com for heat sheets, live results and information as it becomes available.
