Wesley Kirchharr
Sports Editor
The Troy track and field teams wrapped up its time at the Florida relays in Gainesville, Florida, having nine competitors hit season bests over the weekend.
Gemma Finch highlighted the weekend for Troy, setting not only her personal best, but placing herself at the top of the Trojan record books with the fastest 800-meter time in Troy women’s history.
Finch finished her race with a time of 2:08.99, narrowly edging out fellow Trojan Tiarra Bailey, who took the second-place spot in both the race and the record books with a time of 2:09.46.
Naquita Williams also followed with a record-setting performance in the women’s hammer throw. The sophomore’s 58.25-meter throw placed her at second place in Troy history, but third overall in the meet.
Marc Davis, the Troy track and field director, emphasized on the aspects of the sport his squad must work on moving forward.
“We are in a place where we are still working on fitness before we start to really worry about speed and tapering,” said Davis. “Everyone is getting impatient about their progress, but this is a necessary evil that has to occur year in and year out.”
“We have to work on toughness — mental toughness to be honest. No one feels great right now, because we have been training so long. However, it will be the athletes that can accept discomfort who will come out successful in the end.”
On the men’s side, Daniel Glick and Matthew Likely set personal bests, in the steeplechase and the 200-meter dash, respectively. Glick’s 9:28.67 finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase is his best yet, and the best of any 2019 Trojan.
Likely’s 21.13 second finish in the 200-meter dash placed him at 30 out of 119 competitors as he notched his best run to date.
The 400-meter duo of Jordan McCleskey and Harrison Dudley both set personal bests to close out the Trojans, posting times of 49.01 and 49.41, respectively.
Next, the Trojans will head to Auburn to compete in the Tiger Classic the weekend of April 5 before returning to the Plains to compete in the War Eagle Invite on April 19.
