Trojans Impress at FSU Relays

Wednesday, March 23

Tallahassee, FL

All Day

Troy University

FSU Relays & Combined Events

3/26/2011 7:41:48 PM | Track & Field

TROY walks away with several top finishes over the course of a week

By: Travis Jarome

Results | Quotes

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The FSU Relays and Combined Events finished up Saturday at the Mike Long Track on the campus of Florida State University, but not before the Troy University track and field program recorded another exceptional outing.

The Trojans were able to capture another individual championship in the FSU Relays, this one coming from an unlikely source on Saturday. Competing in his first meet of the season due to academic work, Terrell Irons claimed the title in the triple jump with a distance of 15.04 meters (49-04.25), finished almost a full meter ahead of second place Erik Braun of Michigan.

The trend continued on the track as junior Payton McGhee captured his first individual title of the season in the 200-meter dash. McGhee finished first with a time of 21.68 seconds, edging out unattached athlete Todd Ford in a time of 21.74 and teammate Stanley Arukwe with a time of 21.77 seconds.

Ja-Courtney Alexander hit the track in the 100-meters on Saturday, finishing third in an overall time of 11.72 seconds; but missed finishing as the top collegiate athlete as Nakia Lawson of Florida A&M crossed the line in a time of 11.67 seconds. The top overall finisher in the race, former Trojan Tawanna Meadows in a time of 11.30 seconds.

The men finished fourth and fifth in the 100-meters, but finished as the third and fourth best collegiate runners in the event; as McGhee and Antonio McLeod made a push across the line on Saturday. McGhee finished fourth overall with a time of 10.66 seconds, while McLeod finished right behind McGhee in a time of 10.72 seconds. The top two collegiate times were 10.53 and 10.63 seconds.

In relay competition, the Trojan women showed why they won the 4x400-meter relay at the Sun Belt Conference championship last season as they crossed the line third on Saturday. The relay team of Veronica Bryant, Alexander, Tiffany Slater and Ashley Hall finished with a time of 3:55.15; just three seconds behind Marshall for second place overall in the event.

The men's team did one better in the 4x400-meter relay as the team of Arukwe, O'Jike Maat, Chris Upshaw and Laron Taylor finished second overall in the competition. The team crossed the line in a time of 3:15.30, finishing just behind Michigan at 3:11.30.

The day started much like Friday on the final day of the FSU Relays with field events. Eddy Lynn was first up for the Trojans on the day and narrowly missed the medal stand as he finished sixth in the discus with a throw of 46.53 meters (152-08.00). He missed the stand by just three meters on the afternoon, finishing just off the distance of Joey Torres of South Alabama.

On the women's side, Nicole Studstill narrowly missed out on the medal stand as she finished seventh overall in the shot put with a distance of 12.37 meters (40-07.00). She finished just two meters behind third-place Allison Liske of Michigan in the event.

Alexander joined Lynn and Studstill in narrowly missing the medal stand. The sophomore finished fifth overall in the 200-meter dash, crossing the line in a time of 24.57 seconds – just 0.08 second from third and just 0.94 seconds from the top spot earned by Teona Rodgers of Florida State.

For all the latest news on Troy University Athletics, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/TroyAthletics, and become a fan on Facebook.