Summerville Wins Shot Put; Troy Finishes Fifth at Sun Belt Championships

Monday, February 19

Birmingham, Ala.

ALL DAY

Troy University

Sun Belt Indoor Championships

Summerville Wins Shot Put; Troy Finishes Fifth at Sun Belt Championships

2/20/2018 7:42:00 PM | Track & Field

Results

By: Jace Sanders

Results

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Indiya Summerville claimed the gold in the women's shot put and Troy placed fifth for its highest finish in program history Monday and Tuesday at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Summerville launched the shot put 15.01 meters to claim the shot put title for the Trojans – winning by nearly a half a meter.

As a team, Troy was able to come away with a fifth-place finish in the championships. The finish is tied for the highest all-time by the program – the Trojans also placed fifth in 2008 and 2010. The 69 points scored in the meet also set a new school record.

Several individuals experienced success at the meet, as well. Niata Alexander missed out on an individual victory of her own by just two hundredths of a second in the 400-meter dash. The senior was also a runner-up in the 200-meter and finished third in the 60-meter. She also helped lead the 4x400-meter relay team – Alexander, Madison Kennedy, Tiarra Bailey and Precious Ogba – to a runner-up finish in their event.

Troy also made it to the podium with Gabrielle Henderson (second in the 60-meter) and Alexis Garrett (third in the 60-meter hurdles).

Quotable - Troy track and field director Marc Davis

"Our team showed the most fight I have seen out of them during the time I've been here. I was inspired by there performances. We had a plan going in about what we needed to score points. We only took 22 women to compete, so we knew it would be difficult. The women executed almost to a tee what we discussed.

Indiya winning a Sun Belt Championship, was a huge highlight from the meet. She wanted it, and got it. She's come so far from her previous two years, where she's never made the final in the event.

Niata Alexander...what can we say about her. Last year, I told her at the Indoor Championships that she was going to run all three sprint races (60, 200, 400) plus the 4x4. She was second in two individual race and the relay, and third in another. She also crushed two school records in the process.

We set out to get at least two places in the Hurdles. Again they executed a plan. Alexis Garrett and Camille Franks have been performing well all season. To get them both scoring was huge for us. Camille had injury setbacks all season last year and she overcame them to help us. Alexis continued where she left off last year.

Precious Ogba and Maddie Kennedy stepped up in a huge way as freshmen. From day one of practice, I told them they were going to make the finals to help this team. They thought I was crazy, but they both did and scored. Precious in the 200, 400, and 4x4, and Maddie in the 400 and 4x4.

The DMR scoring the night before was big. Kristen Guirey, Tiarra Bailey, Naomi Sheppard, and Macki Walsh got us on the board first kind of set the tone of the fight we were going to show.

I am truly happy for these women. They have come so far and matured. I can't wait to see what the future holds. My staff prepared these athletes well. Thank you to all of you for pushing them through."

Summerville and Alexander put themselves in contention to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the shot put and 200-meter dash, respectively.

The rest of the Trojans will gear up for the start of the outdoor season in mid-March at the Jaguar Classic in Mobile.

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.