Impressive Opening Day for Trojans

Friday, March 11

Birmingham, AL

All Day

Troy University

Southern Invitational

Photo by: Troy University

3/12/2011 11:32:24 PM | Track & Field

History-making effort for the Troy track and field program on Saturday

By: Travis Jarome

Complete Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Troy University track and field teams re-wrote some of the top-10 lists and numerous personal bests were set this weekend as the teams debuted at the Southern Invitational, hosted by Birmingham-Southern College.

The men really showed the strength, although they did not participate in a lot of the events over the weekend.

The Trojans swept the top three spots in the javelin – an event with much anticipation entering the season. Martins Pildavs won the event with a school record throw of 73.32 meters – setting a new meet record in the process. He was followed by Mackenzie Howell with a new personal best throw of 62.51 meters and Matt Braswell with a throw of 60.18 meters.

The defending Sun Belt Conference champion 4x100-meter relay team picked up where they left off last season as they won the top prize in the event on Saturday afternoon. The team crossed the line in a time of 40.36 seconds, one of the fastest times in the country. The 4x400-meter relay team finished second and fourth in the competition; with the 'A' team crossing the line second in a time of 3:21.84 – just two seconds behind Stillman for the top spot.

Although no one competed in the 100-meters competition, Chris Upshaw finished sixth in the 200-meters with a time of 22.11 seconds to finish as the top participant for the Trojans. Senior Staney Arukwe claimed the top prize in the 400-meters competition with a time of 49.02 seconds to close out the sprint competition for the Trojans on the weekend.

In middle distance competition, Kemper Morton was the top finisher in the 800-meters as he finished with a time of 2:01.87 and a sixth place finish; while also finishing eighth in the 1500-meters with a time of 4:15.87.

In distance competition for the Trojans, Enock Kirui claimed the top prize in the 5000-meter run as he crossed the line in a time of 14:57.96 – a new personal best. The time was 26 seconds faster than his closest competitor, Michael Sexton of Berry.

In other field competition, Grant Bullington – who missed the Sun Belt Championship last season due to illness – won the long jump competition with a new meet record and finished third in the high jump this weekend. He won the long jump with a distance of 6.75 meters – 0.03 meters further than Jonathan Sanford of Alabama A&M.

Bullington finished third in the high jump with a clearance of 1.92 meters; followed closely by teammate Larry Henry in fourth place.

“The javelin trio immediately let the nation know they are to be taken seriously,” Lancaster said. “Martins also showed his talents in hammer and discus. But that was not the only mark to take notice this weekend, as another NCAA mark to be reckoned with was the 4x100 men who opened up impressive mark. The team looks toward opportunity to repeat and advance to regionals and on to NCAA championships. Grant (Bullington) proved he is ready after missing the Sun Belt Conference Championships last year where he ranked near the top in three events due to illness last season.”

Scott Neal was the top finisher in the shot put competition for the Trojans, finishing fourth overall with a throw of 14.35 meters; while teammate Eddy Lynn finished 10th with a throw of 12.98 meters.

Lynn led the throwers for the Trojans in the discus competition, as he finished second with a throw of 46.53 meters. Although he finished second overall, he was the top collegiate finisher as John Bowman competed unattached to win the event. Pildavs finished fifth overall in the event with a throw of 41.84 meters – finishing as the third best collegiate athlete in the competition.

Pildavs finished second in the hammer with a throw of 47.89 meters; finishing behind Kyle Kirby of Samford who finished with a throw of 47.89 meters. Pildavs was followed in third by teammate, Lynn, with a throw of 47.00 meters. The Trojans also finished sixth and seventh in the competition – Caleb Osbourne and Neal – respectively.

“It was a huge opening meet for both teams,” Troy University Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Jill Lancaster said. “It provides great enthusiasm and excitement for the team as they get into the swing of the outdoor season. We finished in the events just how we projected going up to Birmingham this weekend, as we had athletes competing in some events just to get their legs back under them from the indoor season. Looking at the results, I think it is safe to say we re-wrote the history books at Troy in this meet, and we had a lot of new personal bests set as well.”

The Trojans also had an impressive showing on the women's side of things on Friday and Saturday.

“The women were impressive this weekend alongside the men,” Lancaster said. “Ja-Courtney (Alexander) had never run a hurdle event in her career and debuted in 400 hurdles with an impressive time. We had several runners make the finals which is a good sign this early in the year as we make the transition from indoor to outdoor.

Ashley Hall ran her way into the finals on Saturday in the 100-meters, clocking a time of 12.46 seconds – the third fastest time in the preliminaries. In the finals, Hall finished with a time of 12.71 seconds, placing sixth overall, but just .19 seconds from a top four finish. Meanwhile, in other sprint competition, Amiracle Watson competed in her first collegiate outdoor meet and promptly finished fourth in the 200-meters, crossing the line in a time of 25.07 seconds – just 0.14 seconds away from finishing second overall in the competition.

In the middle distance and distance competition, Sylvia Chirchir was the top finisher as she came across the line in a time of 2:30.29 to place 18th in the 800-meters; while also running a time of 4:57.95 in the 1500-meters to cross the line 11th overall.

As the day wore on, the hurdles were put on the track, with Jasmine Patton and Kierra Lyles each recording a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles. Patton cross the line second in the prelims with a time of 14.79 seconds, while Lyles finished eighth in the prelims with a time of 16.22 seconds. In the championship flight, Patton crossed the line second with a time of 14.82 seconds, while Lyles finished sixth overall with her new personal best of 15.93 seconds.

Last season's sprint specialist, Ja-Courtney Alexander, debuted this season in a new event – the 400-meter hurdles. The sophomore did not disappoint as she crossed the line third overall with a time of 1:04.98. She finished just 0.17 seconds from second place and just over two minutes from first in her first-ever hurdles competition at any level.

The relay competition featured just one team for the Trojans, as they competed in the 4x400-meter relay. The team finished second overall to Jacksonville State, crossing the line in a time of 3:55.69 – 10 seconds behind the winners.

While the events were taking place on the track on the women's side, the field events were shining for the Trojans as well.

The Trojans had four of the top five finishers in the shot put on the weekend, led by Nicole Studstill in second with a throw of 12.17 meters. She was followed by Brynn Forsythe with a throw of 11.97 meters in third, Karen Wyatt in fourth with a throw of 11.88 meters and Ashley Evans with a throw of 11.08 meters in fifth.

The same group of student-athletes competed in the discus, with Evans claiming the overall title with a new personal best of 42.16 meters. She was followed by Studstill in second with a throw of 40.37 meters, Erin Walker in third at a distance of 40.08 meters and Forsythe in fourth with a distance of 38.64 meters.

In the hammer for the women, Forsythe took the crown with a throw of 46.75 meters; while teammate Wyatt finished second with a throw of 43.32 meters. The Trojans took four of the next spots in the order as Studstill finished third with a throw of 42.03 meters; while Walker, Evans and Shayla Smith all finished in the top seven of the competition.

“The field events for the women were big this weekend,” Lancaster said. “Several personal bests were recorded, led by Ashley (Evans) in the discus with a new personal best. Nicole (Studstill) had a few break through performances this weekend that will go a long way in helping her the rest of the season.

“Overall, this meet was a great opener. We had great teamwork by the athletes and staff all week leading up to the meet and in the meet itself. I am looking forward to what Morehouse will produce with such impressive start.”

The Trojans return to action next weekend in Atlanta at the Morehouse Combined and Relay Events.

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