Likely’s Big Day Highlights Final Day of Crimson Tide Invitational

Friday, April 9

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Troy University

Crimson Tide Invite

Likely’s Big Day Highlights Final Day of Crimson Tide Invitational

4/10/2021 11:08:00 PM | Track & Field

Crimson Tide Invitational (Final Results)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Led by senior Matthew Likely, the Troy Track and Field program finished competition at the Crimson Tide Invitational hosted by the University of Alabama Saturday.

A senior sprinter, Matthew Likely used a blistering time of 20.79 in the 200m to finish second, and ran the second leg of the Trojans 4X100 relay team that finished third. The senior finished just one-tenth of a second behind LSU's Tyler Terry who ran a 20.69 to finish first.

Battling the storms all weekend long, Saturday held the bulk of the three-day meet. After not competing in the decathlon or heptathlon, the Trojans were supposed to open action yesterday, but the weather postponed everything but the remainder of the decathlon events, the heptathlon events, and the 1500m.

As a result, the Trojans ran just Blake Vaughn in the 1500m at the tail end of the day. Vaughn finished with a season-best result of 4:03.82.

Senior Austin Snyder got the day starter for the Trojans turning in a career-best score (50.92m) in the shotput. Battling a stacked field that included competitors from Alabama, Memphis, Mississippi State and LSU, Snyder finished sixth.

Junior Jordan Wallace also had a strong day for the Trojans turning in a career-best 15.03m score in the triple jump. Battling the same stiff competition, Wallace also earned a top-10 finish, finishing seventh.

With the action shifting to the Track, it was time for the Troy relay teams to take aim at a strong performance, and led by Likely and Jaleel Gilbert, the Trojans did just that. Using a season-best time of 40.24 the Trojans 4x100 'A' team finished third in the event, finishing ahead of host Alabama. The four-person team also included Alex Grays and Mikhail Carvalho.

Other strong performances for the Trojans included Precious Ogba running a season-best 55.62 in the 400m to finish seventh, and Jordan McCleskey running a season-best 48.76 in the same event to finish ninth.

Senior Gemma Finch continued her torrid start to the spring, as the defending Sun Belt Conference Female Runner of the Week finished second in the 800m. Her time of 2:07.23 was better than 30 of the other 31 competitors from schools like Alabama, Georgia Tech, LSU and Louisiana.

Saving their best performance for last, the Trojans 4X400 team used a season-best time of 3:11.83 to finish second in the event. The combination of Grays, Titus Sizemore, Likey and McCleskey finished nearly five seconds faster than the Trojan's previous season-best time in the same event.

In the final performance of the night, reigning Sun Belt Conference Male Field Athlete of the Week Michael Alvernaz finished fifth in the hammer throw. Alvernaz, who set a school record in last weekend's meet at USF, recorded a score of 63.42 to earn fifth. It was the first time in five meets this season that Alvernaz didn't finish first or second in the hammer throw.

The Trojans return to action next weekend at the War Eagle meet hosted by Auburn. The two-day meet gets going Friday and continues Saturday.

DIRECTOR OF TRACK AND FIELD MARC DAVIS:
"All in all, we competed pretty well today. Matt Likely had a very good day especially in the 200. It was great to see him run under 21 seconds in a loaded field. Our men's relays did extremely well today as well. We are trending in the right direction. On the women's side, Gemma Finch continued to display her consistency. Precious Ogba came out and showed why she is consistently one of the best in the conference in the 400, with a very good run after almost a year and a half of not running the event. Austin Snyder is finding his rhythm in the throws. He is consistently figuring out ways to PR and make finals. That is the name of the game with track and field. Perform. Advance. Score. We have to do a better job of taking advantage of opportunities given. When we have the opportunity to compete with some of the best in the country, we have to run into battle with confidence and not shrink. Most of our athletes did that today. However, our team needs to be more confident on the bigger stages. Next week at Auburn will be another big test."