Women’s Track & Field to Compete at Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championship Meet This Week

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The indoor season for the women's track and field squad will culminate on Monday and Tuesday as they face their rivals at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championship meet, which will be hosted at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Troy will bring 23 student-athletes to compete against 11 Sun Belt teams for individual and overall honors. Monday's action will kick off at noon CT with the weight throw, featuring sophomore Jaevyn Wortham and junior Allison Taylor.

Last year, Texas State claimed the overall title with 22 individual medals for a team score of 147.5 points, surpassing second-place Arkansas State by 30 points. The Trojans bested ULM and Georgia Southern, but are poised to move up in the rankings after steadily improving this season with a slew of personal-best marks and finishes. Anchored by a strong group of underclassmen, the Trojans are confident their team score will reflect their improvement.

"We are faster and stronger than we were last year, and if everyone competes to the best of their ability, I know we will do better as a team," director Marc Davis said. "It's a process – the team isn't as deep in some areas as we would like it to be, but that's going to take time. For now, we're going to focus on making gradual improvements, and this weekend is a big opportunity for us. Because we have such a young team, we need to stay tough and focused in the face of some very good competition, but I think we've made the right preparations to reach our goals."

Sophomore Niata Alexander, who ran the second-fastest 400-meter dash in the conference this year in 56.17 seconds, will vie for victory against a tightly contested field in her marquee event. Alexander established that mark at the Jaguar Invitational against Arkansas State's Keturah Smith, who set this season's fastest Sun Belt time by winning in 55.66 seconds. Smith's time is just a hundredth of a second off of Alexander's indoor personal-best in the 400-meter dash, which took third at last year's Sun Belt championship meet. They will both contend with fellow sophomore Taylor Davis from UT Arlington and junior Asha Stegall of Georgia Southern, who have run 56.35 and 56.36 seconds this year, respectively. Junior Dallas Worthy, whose 57.13-second effort is ranked sixth in the conference, will also race the 400-meter dash and look to pick up points for the Trojans.

At the end of the meet, Alexander and Worthy will team up for Troy's 4x400-meter relay, which currently has the fifth-fastest time in the conference (3:54.90). The Trojans will also participate in the distance-medley relay, where they rank fourth in Sun Belt standings with a time of 12:37.37.

In the short sprints, sophomore Sydney Wright will enter the 200-meter dash with a season's-best mark of 24.81 seconds, the fifth-fastest time in the conference this year. Alexander, who ran the 200-meter dash in 25.02 seconds this season, will join Wright to chase her personal-best indoor mark of 24.33 seconds. Wright will also compete in the 60-meter dash, where her season's-best time of 7.64 seconds is currently tied for seventh with three other Sun Belt competitors. Last year, she took eighth in a personal-best time of 7.63 seconds.

Freshman Indiya Summerville will look to cap her impressive indoor season by scoring in the women's shot put. Her personal-best mark of 14.33 meters (47'0.25") ranks eighth this year in the Sun Belt.

After setting a personal-best height of 3.5 meters (11'5.75") in the pole vault this season, sophomore Carissa Madson is tied for ninth between four other Sun Belt competitors who have cleared the same height this year.

Freshman Gemma Finch and junior Riley Schwietz, who are entered in the pentathlon, will also compete in the open high jump and long jump, respectively, to try and grab additional points for the Trojans. Finch, a freshman, has consistently jumped 1.66 meters (5'5.25") in the high jump this season, which is tied between three athletes for ninth in the conference.

After the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championship meet, the Trojans will begin their outdoor season on Friday, March 5, at South Alabama's Jaguar Opener in Mobile, Alabama.

Fans can keep up with the action by following Troy track and field and cross country on Instagram @TroyTrojansTFXC.

For more information on Troy Athletics, fans can find the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram @TroyAthletics and Facebook by searching Troy Athletics.

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Players Mentioned

Niata Alexander

Gemma Finch

Carissa Madson

Riley Schwietz

Indiya Summerville

Allison Taylor

Dallas Worthy

Sydney Wright