Troy University Athletics
Trojans Win Medals at Georgia Relays
3/21/2009 5:00:00 AM | Track & Field
ATHENS, Ga. - The Troy University track and field program continued their hot start to the 2009 season with another NCAA qualifer and several medals at the Georgia Relays Saturday afternon.
A day after senior Agata Cichoszewska qualified for the NCAA Regionals, junior Tiphanie Baker did the same. The junior qualified with a throw of 52.28 meters (171'6") in the discus to qualify for the regionals later this year, and in the process won her third gold medal of the outdoor season in just two meets. She easily beast Rachel Travis of Georgia by over 21 feet to win the event.
Latoya Ragland continued her hot start to the 2009 season, with a gold medal finish in the 100-meter hurdles. The redshirt sophomore crossed the line with a time of 13.97, followed by Naquita Rowe with a time of 14.94 to sweep the gold and silver medals. Sophomore Chontia Allen finished seventh in the event with a time of 16.65 seconds.
Senior Shay Matthews won a bronze medal on the afternoon with a time of 1:06.22 in the 400-meter hurdles. She finished less than a second behind Caitlin Finnegan of Eastern Illinois, and a second ahead of Rowe in fourth place. Kapri Hockaday finished seventh in the event with a time of 1:10.11, while Allen finished eighth crossing the line in a time of 1:12.55.
In the 400-meter dash, Brentley Collins and Brittney McGhee finished fourth and fifth respectively. Collins ran a time of 1:03.99, finishing just behind Eastern Illinois' Emily Quinones; while McGhee ran a time of 1:06.68. Meanwhile, in the 1500-meter run, Anastacia Limo finished 15th overall with a time of 5:10.27.
Senior Jenean Corcoran took to the track in the 3000-meter steeplechase for the women and finished eighth overall with a time of 11:47.68.
The Trojans entered just two relay teams in the meet, with the 4x400-meter relay finished 10th overall with a time of 4:13.08. The 1600-meter Sprint Medley relay team finished fourth overall with a time of 4:16.78, less than one second out of a third-place finish.
In the field events for the women, Hockaday finished third overall in the high jump by clearing a height of 1.64 meters (5'4.50"). She finished just two feet behind Jakia Ragland of Kennesaw State and just four feet behind Marquette's Erynn James.
In the long jump competition, Ragland won her second medal of the meet with a silver finish by jumping a distance of 5.66 meters (18'7"). The mark was less than six inches behind Middle Tennessee's Kortney Thurman and just 0.34 meters from a qualifying mark for the NCAA regionals. Ariel Cavazos finished eighth in the same event with a distance of 5.25 meters (17'2.75"), followed by Allen in ninth with a distance of 5.18 meters (17'). Rowe finished up the event for the Trojans with a distance of 4.99 meters (16'4.50").
Cichoszewska competed in the javelin for the first time this season, finishing ninth overall with a throw of 36.52 meters (119'10"), while Stephanie Yawn finished 10th with a distance of 30.94 (101'6") in the event.
In men's action, Matavis Madden has returned to full health this season and finished second in the 400-meters with a time of 48.54 meters. He finished just 0.34 seconds behind Brenton Pegues of Eastern Illinois for the gold medal and was just over one second from qualifying for the NCAA Regionals. Dennis Acree finished seventh in the same event with a time of 50.01 seconds.
Grant Bullington was the only Trojan competing in the 110-meter hurdles this weekend, finishing eighth overall with a time of 16.74 seconds. Meanwhile, in the 400-meter hurdles, Mike Conley finished ninth overall with a time of 56.96 seconds. He was followed by teammates Michael Alexander in 10th with a time of 58.98 seconds and by Logan Etheridge in 11th with a time of 59.01 seconds.
Brett Lewis and Terrence Dixon competed in the 3000-meter steeplechase, with Lewis finishing 11th with a time of 10:50.16 in his first competition in the event. Dixon ran the event for the just the second time in his career and fnished 12th with a time of 11:13.35.
The Trojans competed in five of the six relays, recording a finish in each event with the exception of the 4x100-meter relay (disqualifed). In the 4x200-meter relay, the Trojans finished fourth with a time of 1:25.90, less than two-tenths of a second from finishing second in the event. The 4x400-meter relay team finished ninth overall with a time of 3:28.79, and finished fourth in the 1600-meter Sprint Medley. The Trojans wrapped up the relay events with a seventh-place finish in the Distance Medley.
In the field events, Lamontrey Stamper finished with a bronze medal in the long jump competition with a distance of 7.01 meters (23'). He finished just five inches behind Carlos Morgan and just one foot behind JaRod Tobler. For the second time in two days, Stamper was the top collegiate finisher in an event (triple jump on Friday). He finished just 0.33 meters short of a qualifying mark in the event.
Sophomore Michael Martin finished 11th in the discus with a throw of 43.10 meters (141'5"), the only Trojan in the event. Meanwhile, in the javelin, freshman MacKenzie Howell finished sixth with a throw of 51.57 meters (169'2"), while Conley finished seventh in the event with a throw of 51.45 meters (168'9").
Senior Norman Austin recorded his best start in his career with a throw of 201'6" in the javelin, finishing as the top collegiate athlete in the event. He missed the NCAA qualifying mark by just three inches.
Troy will return to action next weekend at the FSU Combined and Relays Meet which runs Thursday through Sunday in Tallahassee.
