UT Martin Track Posts Several Personal Bests at Bellarmine Classic

By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Tennessee at Martin track and field program returned to action Friday with its second consecutive meet at the Norton HC Center when competing in the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic.

The Skyhawks had several personal-best performances in the meet while the men’s squad finished with 36 points to come in seven overall in the team standings. Meanwhile, the women’s squad earned one point and finished 16^th.

Notable Performances

• Graduate athlete Luke McNair put on a show in the men’s mile run with a runner-up finish while ranking as the top attached performer in the field of 45 with a time of 4:10.79. His mark not only established a new PR for the veteran, but also broke the school’s previous record by 2.8 seconds.
• Junior Cole Davis also had a strong performance in the men’s mile, finishing third overall with a time of 4:16.15.
• Freshman Alaina Gordon set a pair of new PRs on the day in both the women’s 60m dash and 200m. Gordon posted a time of 7.89 seconds in the 60m dash while coming back to post a PR time of 25.62 seconds in the 200m.
• Junior Addison Taylor also had a strong day with PRs in the 60m dash and the 60m hurdles. The team veteran posted a time of 8.12 seconds in the 60m dash before recording a time of 9.25 seconds in the 60m hurdles.
• Freshman Ja’Kobe Ward scored points for the Skyhawks in the men’s 60m hurdles with a third-place time of 8.49 seconds. He also set a PR in the men’s 60m dash with a time of 7.05 seconds.
• Redshirt-freshman Lydia Tankersley set a new PR in the women’s mile with a time of 5:04.08.
• Sophomore Rita Eimer pulled double duty with a pair of PRs in both the women’s 800m and mile. In the 800m, she finished in the top quarter of the field while posting a time of 2:18.36. Meanwhile, her mark of 5:18.99 in the mile also ranked as a new personal-best by shaving nearly 15 seconds off her previous time.
• Sophomore Khalid White joined in the action with a pair of PRs of his own in the 60m dash and 400m. He finished in 7.09 seconds in the 60m dash while posting a sixth-place time in the 400m with a PR of 49.76 seconds.

UT Martin returns to action next week when traveling to the Hoosier Hills meet in Bloomington, Ind. on Friday, Feb. 10.

Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information