Wesley Kirchharr
Sports Editor
The Troy track and field team was well represented once again at the Birmingham CrossPlex as the indoor squad chased school history and notched several personal bests.
The women’s squad saw several top five finishes, highlighted by Gabrielle Henderson, Precious Ogba, Genesis Jones, Madison Kennedy and JaMeeka Middlebrooks.
Henderson led the Trojans on the track, placing third in the 60-meter dash. Henderson set a personal best in the semifinals before breaking it once again in the finals with a time of 7.57 seconds. Henderson’s finish put her name in the school record books as the second fastest time in Troy’s history.
Precious Ogba took the fourth-place spot in the 200-meter dash, finishing with a time of 24.76 seconds. Southern Miss’ Kimone Hinds took the top spot with her time of 24.53 seconds.
In the field, Genesis Jones rounded out the top five of the women’s high jump with her leap of 1.60 meters.
The duo of Madison Kennedy and Gemma Finch took fourth and eighth place, respectively, in the 400-meter dash. Kennedy’s 56.16 second finish narrowly edged the fifth-place finisher by one quarter of a second. Finch’s 57.88 second race was less than one second from the 10th place finisher.
JaMeeka Middlebrooks rounded out the women’s placers, finishing fifth in the 60-meter hurdles. Alabama State’s Christene Lavallias took the event, finishing with a time of 8.81 seconds while Middlebrooks finished in 9.21 seconds.
On the men’s side, Caleb Brown highlighted the Trojans in the field with his third-place finish in the men’s weight throw. Brown moved himself into Troy’s second all-time spot for the event with his heave of 18.23 meters.
Following Brown’s performance was Jess Jacobson toss at a school record. Jacobson’s shot put heave of 15.92 meters places him at second place in Troy’s record books and fourth in the meet.
On the track, Amir Harris represented Troy in the top five with his 21.66 second 200-meter dash. Southeast Louisiana’s Cliff Resais took first place with his time of 21.42 seconds in the event.
The Troy track and field teams will return to action on Feb. 1, traveling to take part in the Camel City Invitational in Winston-Salem, NC.
The track and field program also announced on Monday that six athletes for the 2019 and 2020 classes have been signed to run for the Trojans.
Among the six runners, three are from Alabama while two are from Florida and one is from Georgia.
The recruits include four long distance competitors, Silas Franklin, Baylee Evans, Bennett Brake and Lauren Locke.
Cadi Rowe is the only middle distance athlete while Jasmine Riley is the lone sprinter among the class.
