Lynn, Place win individual championships; Tech third after OVC opening day
Katherine Lynn and Stephanie Place became the first two individual champions in school history and several other Golden Eagles had scoring performances Friday as Tennessee Tech ended the first day of the Ohio Valley Conference Track & Field Championships in third place with 47 points.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Katherine Lynn and Stephanie Place
became the first two individual conference outdoor champions in
school history and several other Golden Eagles had scoring
performances Friday as Tennessee Tech ended the first day of the
Ohio Valley Conference Track & Field Championships in third
place with 47 points.
Lynn (pictured, left) became the first Golden Eagle high jumper to
win the event, earning 10 points by edging Tennessee State's
Gabrielle Todd in a jump-off at 5 feet, 6 inches. Meagan Lyons
(pictured, right) tacked on additional six points in the high jump
by placing third.
A few hours later, Place (pictured below) also won an individual
conference title when she cruised across the finish line first in
the 10,000-meter run in 37:04.41, more than a minute ahead of the
runnerup. Tiffany Palmer
grabbed a third-place showing in 38:25.96 to earn six points for
Tech.
Ashley
Evans added to Tech's meet total for the second time Friday,
finishing eighth in the longest event of the weekend in 40:37.88.
Earlier in the day, Evans had placed fourth in the 3,000-meter
steeplechase for five meet points, covering the distance in a
personal-best time of 11:43.34.
Tech scored points in three field events, including eight from
Golden Eagle throwers.
Ashley
Mayhew placed fourth in the shot put with a toss of 41 feet, 8
1/2 inches to earn five points. In the discus, a pair of freshmen
claimed the last two scoring positions. Lacy Yslas was
seventh with a toss of 136 feet, 10 inches for two points while Madison
Borden added one point with a throw of 133 feet, three inches
for eighth place.
Junior Leayn
Carter earned an eighth place finish in the long jump with a
leap of 17 feet, 6 3/4 inches.
Tech had one runner qualify for the finals Saturday and narrowly
missed qualifying in three other speed events.
In the 100-meter hurdles, Lyons was fifth in the qualifying with a
time of 14.79 seconds. Allison Price and
Traci Jones
each placed ninth in qualifying with the top eight runners
advancing to the finals. Price ran a school record 58.01 seconds in
the 400-meter dash, but was edged out for the last spot in the
finals by .03 seconds at the wire. Jones clocked a 2:23.53 in the
800-meter run, missing a place in the finals by .09 seconds.
Junior Ifey
Eguzo was 10th in the 100-meter dash qualifying, missing a trip
to the finals by .31 seconds.
In the pole vault, freshman Katie Lowery missed matching her
own school record of 10 feet, clearing the bar at 9 feet 11 3/4
inches before bowing out in 11th place. Senior Rachel Forbes was
1/3 inch shy of her career-best with a vault of 9 feet, 5 3/4
inches to placed 13th.
Southeast Missouri holds the lead in the women's division with 72.
5 points Friday, while defending champion Eastern Illinois is
second with 64 points and Tech is third with 47. After that, Austin
Peay in fourth (27.5 points), followed by Tennessee State (21.5),
Jacksonville State (20.5), Murray State and Eastern Kentucky (10).
Morehead State did not score any points Friday in women's
competition.
Saturday's action begins at 8 a.m. with the hammer throw. In the
stadium, following the 8:45 a.m. Opening Ceremony, the 4x100 relay
is the first event beginning at 10 a.m.
