Wesley Kirchharr
Staff Writer
The Troy track and field team broke records and made new career highs as it competed against some of the nation’s top competition in Auburn’s Tiger Classic. Among the teams in attendance for Friday and Saturday’s action were South Alabama, Clemson, Florida State and the hosting Tigers.
Highlighting the weekend for the Trojans was senior Riley Schwietz, who topped a personal best score in the heptathlon on her way to setting a new school record.
Schwietz tallied 5,131 points to smash an 11-year-old record of 5,049 points. Schwietz also set new personal bests in the women’s shot put with a heave of 11.81 meters and in the women’s high jump, jumping 1.53 meters.
“We had a very solid effort this week,” said Head Coach Marc Davis. “It started with the heptathlon, where Riley (Schwietz) started off strong.
“The great thing about this team is that we are getting great performances by our young stars. Freshman Jared Hayes, again ran a great race. Sophomore Titus Sizemore continued to improve in the high jump. Freshman Kewin Delis is surprising many by how quickly he is improving.”
Sizemore had a career outing, coming within 0.2 meters of taking down the school record for the men’s high jump. Sizemore leaped to a career-high 2.14 meters earning him the second place spot.
In the sprint events, Troy saw five personal records surpassed among the men’s and women’s teams. Sydney Henderson and Gabrielle Henderson set a new mark in the 100-meter hurdles and the 100-meter dash, respectively.
Troy’s 4×400-meter relay team on the women’s side also put on a show. Led by junior Tiarra Bailey and a trio of freshmen, the squad took down Troy’s school record with a time of 3:43.91. While it was a school-best, the record time landed the relay team in third place for the meet.
“The women’s 4×400 relay team is comprised of three freshmen and a junior,” Davis said. “Right now, we have it going in a positive direction on what seems to be a week-to-week basis.
“We have a long way to go to be a championship team, but can get there if they continue to work hard day to day.”
Kewin Delis hit a new career best in the men’s 100-meter, followed by record performances from Cameron Rice and Jared Hayes in the 200-meter dash.
Troy is set to return to Auburn this weekend for the War Eagle Invitational. The two-day meet is set to begin tomorrow.
