By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
JONESBORO, Ark. – The University of Tennessee at Martin track and field teams traveled to the ASU Red Wolf Open hosted by Arkansas State and came back with two event victory and a new school record in the books after another successful showing.
With time winding down on the season, the Skyhawks are posting strong results at the right time with the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship sitting just around the corner. Competing in the team’s second to last meet prior to the championship event, UT Martin notched event titles in both the men’s 1500m and 3000 steeple while seeing the program’s long jump record rewritten once again.
Darius Holland proved to be a triple threat in the meet with strong personal-best performances in the long jump along with both the 100m and 200m dashes. Already known as the program’s most prolific jumper, he added to that repertoire by setting a new school record in the long jump with a leap of 7.45m on his final attempt. Then in the 100m, he posted a top-10 time with a mark of 11.05 seconds while notching a 200m time of 22.89 seconds with both setting new PRs for the standout.
The Skyhawks claimed an event victory in the men’s 1500m race with Luke McNair besting the field with a time of 3:52.46. He wasn’t the only top finisher for UT Martin as Cole Davis came in fifth overall at 3:56.0 to set a new PR. Meanwhile on the women’s side, Lydia Tankersley just missed out on a top-10 finish despite setting a new PR of 4:56.21 at the meet.
UT Martin had a pair of impressive performances in on both the men’s and women’s side of the 800m. For the men, Hawken Foote finished third with a time of 1:55.05 while teammate Rita Eimer also claimed a third-place finish in the women’s race at 2:22.09 for a PR.
On the sprint side, freshman JayleAna Wyatt finished fifth in the field with a time of 59.84 in the 400m dash to set a PR. Then in the women’s 100m dash, newcomer Janay Chapman finished third at 12.20 for a PR of her own.
UT Martin claimed another event title in the men’s steeple as freshman Sam Shuman dominated the field with a time of 9:55.76, sitting nearly 29 seconds faster than the closest competitor. On the women’s side, Lilia Alvarez came in second in the event with a time of 12:05.49.
The Skyhawks will wrap up the regular season portion of the outdoor schedule with their final meet prior to the OVC Championship by participating in the Outdoor Music City Challenge hosted by Vanderbilt in Nashville on Apr. 29-30.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information