Troy University Athletics
37 More Medals, Two Team Titles Claimed
3/21/2010 1:15:00 AM | Track & Field
ATLANTA, Ga. - The outdoor season is just two weeks old, and all ready the Troy University track and field programs have garnered 69 total medals and two team titles following this week's Morehouse Relays Invitational.
The Trojans took home 37 total medals this weekend; including a combined 15 gold, 14 silver and eight bronze medals. Not to mention that they both brought home team titles in a scored event Saturday. The Trojan men finished first with 200.5 points, besting host Morehouse College who finished with 185 total points. On the women's side, the Trojan women won the event going away with 185.66 points - with the second place team (Fort Valley State) finishing with 121 total points.
Several student-athletes medals, and some medaled in one more than on individual event; while many others earned points in their respective events to help secure the team titles for the Trojans. Each of the top eight finishers in the field earned points for each team in the meet, which was scored by Coach O - the host of the Troy University home meet (Coach O Invitational) on April 24.
On the men's side, junior Antonio McLeod finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.68 seconds - earning both a medal and points for the Trojans. Meanwhile, freshman Neko Freeman finished fourth overall with a time of 10.80 seconds. In the 200-meters, the Trojans walked away with two medals as junior college transfer Stanley Arukwe walked away with a silver medal with a time of 22.10 seconds. He finished just 0.06 seconds from a gold medal in the event. Meanwhile, Phillip Pritchett picked up a bronze medal in the event with a time of 22.19 seconds; while fellow freshman Randall Askew finished fifth overall with a time of 22.69 seconds.
In other sprint competition, Chris Upshaw and O'Jike Maat each earned points in the 400-meter dash. Upshaw, running in his first meet of the season, finished sixth with a time of 50.28 seconds; while Maat finished seventh overall with a time of 50.52 seconds.
The Trojans were able to score in the middle distance competition on the men's side, when Brett Lewis finished fifth in the 800 meters with a time of 1:59.88. Meanwhile, Andre McElroy finished seventh with a time of 2:00.32.
In the distance competition, Lewis picked up a gold medal in the 1500-meters with a time of 4:04.96; while Drew Horner scored points with a seventh place finish and a time of 4:23.98. Horner narrowly missed scoring points for the Trojans in the 800-meters with a 10th place finish. The Trojans picked up a pair of medals in the 5000-meters when freshman Nathan Rouse finished second to claim the silver medal with a time of 16:44.50, and Alec Hamm finished third for the bronze medal with a time of 16:46.68. Adam Bradley was able to score points for the Trojans in the 5000-meters, as the senior cross the line sixth with a time of 17:29.92.
The Trojans picked up a trio of medals, including a pair of golds, in the relay competition to bolster their edge over the rest of the field. In the 4x100-meter relay the team of Neko Freeman, Burke Leonce, Payton McGhee and Antonio McLeod picked up the gold medal with a time 40.63 seconds; while in the 4x200-meter relay the team of Stanley Arukwe, Freeman, Terrell Irons and Leonce picked up the gold with a time of 1:25.98. The only other medal picked up in relay competition was a bronze in the 4x400-meter relay with the team of Greg Acree, Arukwe, Leonce and Andre McElroy running a time of 3:19.74. The Trojans were also able to pick up more points in the 4x400-meter relay when their second entree of Randall Askew, Freeman, Curtis Hoyne and O'Jike Maat finished sixth.
In the field events for the Trojans, Idral Bowen captured the gold in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.20 meters (10'6"), while a pair of jumpers won medals in the high jump. Larry Henry won his second medal of the season with a clearance of 1.98 meters (6'6") to claim the silver; while Grant Bullington claimed the bronze with a jump of 1.98 meters (6'6"). Terrell Irons was able to pick up points for the Trojans in the high jump with a clearance of 1.88 meters (6'2") for a seventh place finish.
Senior Lamontrey Stamper picked up a pair of silver medals in the jumps, finishing second in the long jump with a distance of 7.30 meters (23'11 1/2") and a second place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 14.66 meters (48'1 1/4"). Meanwhile, Terrell Irons picked up a bronze in the triple jump with a distance of 14.23 meters (46'8 1/4") and scored points in the long jump with a seventh place finish and a distance of 6.60 meters (21'8"). Henry was able to pick up points for the Trojans in the triple jump with a distance of 13.64 meters (44'9") to finish fifth overall.
In the throws competition, the Trojans walked away with five medals but no one finished with more than freshman Cody Bahrke. The freshman from Iowa finished with a pair of golds and a bronze on the day. He finished third in the shot, behind teammate Scott Neal with a distance of 13.07 meters (42'10 3/4"); while Neal finished second with a distance of 13.50 meters (44'3 1/2"). Bahrke finished with a gold in the discus with a throw of 45.86 meters (150'5") and a gold in the hammer with a throw of 48.13 meters (157'11"). Caleb Osborne and Neal both scored points for the Trojans in the hammer with fifth and seventh place finishes respectively.
Freshman Heath Fincher claimed a silver medal in his season-opening meet in the the javelin, recording a distance of 52.81 meters (173'3") to round out the medals and scoring for the men.
On the women's side, the Trojans were able to win nine golds, six silvers and two bronze medals en route to capturing the team title in their second outdoor meet of the season.
Freshman Ja-Courteny Alexander continued her mastery of the field with a pair of gold medals. She claimed a gold in the 100-meter dash, finishing with a time of 12.11 seconds; and then again in the 200-meters with a time of 24.84 seconds. Three other runners scored points for the Trojans in those sprint competitions; as Latoya Ragland finished fifth in the 100-meters with a time of 12.66 seconds, Ariel Cavazos finished sixth in the 200-meters with a time of 26.16 seconds and Simone Pugh finished eighth in the 100-meters with a time of 12.71 seconds. Rounding out the sprint competition, senior Kapri Hockaday was able to score points in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.53 to finish eighth overall.
In the middle distance competition, Kelly Harrington earned the first of her two medals on the day with a bronze medal finish in the 800-meters. She crossed the line in a time of 2:27.13. Harrington won her second medal of the day - a gold medal - in the 1500-meters with a time of 4:55.42. In other distance competition, Agnes Kapsoiyo finished with a gold medal in the 3000-meters with a time of 11:44.41.
In the hurdles competition, freshman Veronica Bryant earned another medal this outdoor season. She finished with a silver medal with a time of 1:03.76 in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. A pair of Trojans scored points for the Trojans in the hurdles competition, as Tamara Curtis finished fourth in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 1:06.14; while Jasmine Patton finished sixth with a time of 15.71 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.
The Trojans won a trio of gold medals in the relay competitions; beginning with a gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay when the team of Tamara Curtis, Ashley Hall, Simone Pugh and Naquita Rowe crossed the line in a time of 47.89 seconds. The 4x200-meter relay team also won gold, when the team of Chontia Allen, Curtis, Hall and Kapri Hockaday finished first with a time of 1:41.97. The final relay team to win gold was the team of Ja-Courteny Alexander, Veronica Bryant, Ariel Cavazos and Hockaday in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:53.64.
In the field competition, Kapri Hockaday and Veronica Bryant tied for the silver medal in the high jump with a clearance of 1.63 meters (5'4 1/4"). Meanwhile, Ariel Cavazos finished third for the bronze in the long jump with a distance of 5.63 meters (18'5 3/4"); while Latoya Ragland finished fourth and scored points for the Trojans in the event with a jump of 5.60 meters (18'4 1/2"). In the triple jump, Jasmine Patton was able to score points for the Trojans with a jump of 10.94 meters (33'10 3/4") and a sixth-place finish.
Freshman Brynn Forsythe claimed three medals on the day, beginning with a silver medal in the shot put with a throw of 11.58 meters (38'). She was also able to claim two gold medals on the day - in the discus with a throw of 39.29 meters (128'11") and in the hammer with a throw of 48.77 meters (160').
Ashley Evans finished with a silver medal in the discus with a throw of 38.81 meters (127'4"), while sophomore Lauren Howell finished with a silver medal in the hammer with a throw of 39.19 meters (128'7"). Nicole Studstill scored points for the Trojans in the discus with a throw of 36.24 meters (118'11") for a fourth place finish, while she finished fifth in the hammer with a throw of 34.23 meters (112'4").
Freshman Dee Richards scored points in the hammer with a seventh place finish after a throw of 31.77 meters (104'3"), while junior Chonita Allen rounded out the scoring with a throw of 20.78 meters (68'2") in the javelin.
The Trojans return to action next week at the FSU Relays in Tallahassee, Florida; hosted by Florida State University.
