Feb. 13, 2010

 

Bloomington, Ind. – As the Conference USA Indoor Championship meet quickly approaches, the University of Memphis track and field teams looked to the Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse and the Hoosier Hills Invitational to continue the quest for a C-USA Championship.

The unique format of the Hoosier Hills Invitational did not bother the Tigers as three student-athletes broke University of Memphis records and several other athletes set personal and/or season-best marks. The one day meet began at approximately 5 p.m. and the records began to fall from the start.

Senior Tayanna Simpson set a new school record in the 60m hurdle competition with a time of 8.49 seconds. Simpson finished first in the competition and broke the record held by former Lady Tiger Sheena Ohlig. Freshman Quaniqua Jones finished fifth with a season-best time of 8.87 seconds.

Junior sprinter LaShundra Kershaw followed Simpsons’ record setting pace and broke the school record in the 60m dash with a time of 7.50 seconds, finishing first for the Lady Tigers. The previous record was held by current Lady Tiger LaBritney Horton at 7.56 seconds. Freshman Holly Joiner finished fifth (7.81) and Jones finished sixth (7.82). Kershaw brought home fourth with a season-best time of 25.01 in the 200m dash while Joiner posted a time of 25.81 to finish 14^th.

Karlis Pujats broke the University of Memphis indoor pole vault record for the third time this season. Pujats claimed his first, first place finish of the season with the new school record vault of 5.12m (16-09.50). Freshman Nate Arnold notched his fourth top-10 performance of the indoor season with a sixth-place vault of 4.40m (14-05.25).

In the men’s 60m dash, junior Frashod Barlow captured a 14^th-place finish with a season-best mark of 7.04 seconds. Barlow returned to the track for the 200m dash and posted a season-best time of 22.35 seconds.

Sophomore Robert Jackson posted a season-best time of 8.18 seconds in the men’s 60m hurdles to finish in third place. Junior Preston Williams finished 14th (8.70) and senior Marvin Stewart finished 16^th (8.74).

Freshman distance runner Breiuc Vandeleene finished sixth in the mile run with a time of 4:16.28. Junior Edwin Kipkorir posted a season-best time of 4:23.69 and finished 13^th.

Freshman sprinter Monica Mason posted her fourth top-10 finish of the season in the 400m dash with a ninth-place finish time of 57.97 seconds. Sophomore Keyona Neal also finished in the top-10 just one hundredth of a second behind (57.98) Mason for 10^th-place.

Vivian Hayes finished 10th for the Lady Tigers in the long jump with a leap of 4.90m (16-01.00). Haynes picked up her second 10^th-place finish in the women's high jump with a jump of 1.55m (05-01.00).

Knut Syversen took second place for Memphis in the weight throw with a distance of 19.17m (62-10.75), his second best throw of the indoor season. Harding Zillis also finished in the top-10 with a ninth-place throw of 16.55m (54-03.75).

The men’s throwers moved to the shot put once the weight throw competition wrapped up and the Tigers posted three top-10 finishes. Senior Seth Major was the top finisher for the Tigers with a season-best toss of 16.26m (53-04.25) to finish fifth. Freshman Tom Wilcox also recorded a season-best toss with a mark of 15.86m (52-00.50) and finished sixth. Fellow freshman Andrew Miller posted a season-best as well and he also recorded a season-high 10^th-place finish with a toss of 15.20m (49-10.50).

 In the men's 400-meters, Richard Lowe brought home third place with a time of 49.35 for his third top-three finish of the season. Nick Harold ran a season-best 49.60 to take sixth, and Alex Sweet was the third Tiger in the top-10 with a time of 50.05.

 In the men's long jump, the highest-finishing Tiger was Preston Williams who jumped 6.51m for 12th place. Darrell Lewis jumped 6.41m for 15th, and Marvin Stewart jumped 5.75 for 36th place. Williams competed in the men’s high jump and posted a 12^th-place finish with a season-best mark of 1.90m (06-02.75). Lewis also posted a season-best high jump with a mark of 1.85m (06-00.75).  

Marina Vojinovic finished in sixth place for Memphis in the women's shot put with a throw of 14.45m. Karmyn Clarke took home 19th with a throw of 11.83m. Clark quickly moved to the weight throw competition and finished ninth with a toss of 16.85m (55-03.50). Senior Angela Wigley finished 10^th with a toss of 16.21m (53-02.25).

 In the men's 800m, Stephan Ender took third place for the Tigers with a run of 1:54.35, his best time of the indoor season. Trent Scott was 15th with a time of 1:58.13. Abdi Guleed ran a 1:58.69 to come in 17th, with teammate Guy Hudson one spot behind him in 18th with a time of 1:58.87.

Alyssa Northcutt came in 12th in the women's pole vault for Memphis with a jump of 3.35m, her best of the season. With jumps of 3.20 Brittany Brewster and Lauren Gale both finished in a tie for 15th for the Tigers.

The Hoosier Hills Invitational concluded with the distance medley relays and the 4x400m relay. The men’s distance medley team finished first with a time of 10:13.78. The women’s 4x400 relay for the Tigers posted a second place finish with a time of 3:55. The men’s 4x400m relay finished first with a time of 3:18.

The Tigers will travel north once again as the indoor schedule concludes at the SEMO Invitational in Cape Girardeau, Mo., next weekend. The C-USA Indoor Championships, hosted by Houston, begin on Feb. 26.