Track and Field weathers storm in shortened Auburn Tiger Track classic
AUBURN, Ala. - Troy track & field earned a pair of event wins and a handful of new personal bests at the Tiger Track Classic before severe weather canceled the remaining events.
While all field events were completed, only half of the running events could be done before thunderstorms arrived. The events completed include both men’s and women’s 5K, 100/110m hurdles, 400m, 1500m, 4x100 relay and the women’s 100m.
The meet began early with the 5K being moved up from an evening start to 8:30 am in hopes of providing better conditions for the longest event of the day.
The heat was certainly still a factor, but freshmen Keith Warner and Gavan Baxley were able to overcome. Warner placed sixth with a running time of 15:49, a career best, while Baxley set a new personal best in 15:58 to place seventh.
For the women, Aisley McMeen battled the conditions to finish in 21:05.
Running events resumed at 2 p.m. with the 100m and 110m hurdles. Alejandra Gutirrez Fuente led the way for the women running in 15.53 in the 100m.
For the men, Eugene Vickers earned seventh for the 110m in 15.09. Next, Troy’s men’s 4x100 earned a podium finish in third while the women earned fourth.
Following the first of multiple weather delays before cancellation, the 1500m was a huge success for the Trojans. Makenna Calbert earned a season best of 4:55.19.
For the men, Caden Blackman broke the four-minute mark by running 3:58.83. Fellow freshmen Sam Megginson and Zane McPeters also earned new bests of 4:02.77 and 4:11.95, respectively.
In the 400, Kyra Dalluge set a new personal best time of 58.28. Chance Armstrong led the men with a 50.00 run. The final running event before the weather was the women’s 100m dash, where Shanyah Washington would place fifth with a time of 12.10.
All of the field events were completed, and the standouts were Cole Stewart and Haruki Sakai. Stewart earned first in the javelin for the second consecutive week, throwing a mark of 66.47m. Sakai also earned the top spot in the long jump, as he did the week prior, jumping 7.33m.
Other notable field performances include Javon Osborne’s runner-up finish in the discus. Biniosa Ezukuse and Brooke Burns both earned fourth place finishes in the shot put and hammer throw, respectively.
As championship season approaches, the Trojans will bring a select group of athletes to the Penn Relays in Philadelphia this week with hopes of getting some final improvements before the Sun Belt Championships on May 9-11.
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