Wesley Kirchharr
Staff Writer
The Troy track and field teams competed in the Bill Carson Invitational during the weekend, finishing in the top three in both the men’s and women’s standings.
The men’s team tied for the runner-up spot with 137 points, falling 14.5 points short of host East Carolina. The women’s team picked up the third-place slot with 105 total points, placing behind Charlotte and East Carolina.
Both the men’s and women’s teams saw multiple top finishers, highlighted by the 4×400-meter relay teams. Troy swept the final two relays on the day, finishing with a men’s time of 3:16.13 and a women’s time of 3:49.71.
Also among Troy’s top finishers were Riley Schwietz and Casimir Tawiah, who took the top spot in the women’s javelin and the men’s 110-meter hurdles, respectively.
Schwietz set a personal best, winning her first event at the collegiate level with a throw of 42.56 meters. Tawiah’s performance landed among the top three in Troy’s history after he finished the 110-meter hurdles in 14.21 seconds.
“Riley Schwietz had the performance of the day with a PR and a win in the javelin,” said Head Coach Marc Davis. “On Saturday, we had to go way out of comfort zone and deal with rainy and cool conditions.
“For the most part, we did a very good job executing races. We came away with good placing, and our scores reflected that. In our last two relays — the 4×4’s — we showed grit and came away with wins on both sides. We showed promise and have some momentum going into the toughest part of the season.”
Troy also saw success in the field events, having four Trojans earn a second-place finish. Connor Brookman was named the runner-up in both the men’s javelin and hammer throw, surpassing the 55-meter mark in both events.
Brookman fell just 2.10 meters shy of East Carolina’s Adam Sadowski in the javelin with his throw of 58.14 meters. Brookman was bested by another East Carolina thrower in the hammer throw after his 55.62-meter heave fell 4.59 meters shy.
Titus Sizemore met first-place winner Jonte Leaston’s jump of 1.98 meters in the men’s high jump, but was given second place based on NCAA tiebreaker procedures.
Jaevyn Wortham rounded out the runner-ups for Troy as her throw of 47.11 landed just 2.5 meters behind East Carolina’s winner.
The Trojans look to return to action this weekend, kicking off competition in the Tiger Track Classic on Friday.
The meet, hosted by Auburn University, will wrap up on Saturday. The Trojans will return to The Plains next weekend when they compete in Auburn’s War Eagle Invitational.
