As the race to the conference championships heats up the Troy track and field team is nearing its performance peak. Head track and field coach Jill Lancaster was optimistic about her athletes’ performances over the past two weeks and what it means heading into the home stretch. “Now is the time we expect these improvements to show up,” said Lancaster. “Our sport is one of patience, you have to keep your training going while competing at a high level.” There were several Trojans that won their respective events and set personal bests during the Tiger Track Classic last weekend for both the men and women. Nicolo Bolla continued to thrive this season as he set a new Sun Belt conference record in the hammer with 63.96 meters. Freeman finished the 100-meter dash with a season-best 10.40 seconds against the wind, increasing his lead on the Sun Belt performance list. He also assisted on the 4X100 meter relay that finished third behind Auburn and Clemson with 40.67 seconds. Lynn won the discus competition with a 53.80-meter throw, which was his season best, locking up his second place position in the Sun Belt. Thaddeus Curtis ran a personal best 53.53 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles but finished 10. Larry Henry exceled in the high just with a season-best 2.10 meters, giving him a fourth place finish. The women also performed well during the competition. Ashley Hall set a personal best in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.83 seconds, giving her the first sub-12 second time of her career. Ja-Courtney Alexander continued to be a force and participated in several events including the 400-meter dash and hurdles. She finished sixth with a time of 54.75 seconds in the 400-meter, which moved her into second place in the Sun Belt and possibly as high as 20 in the NCAA East Region. There were two women that placed in the top-ten of the 5,000-meter dash. Julia Ostendorf and Morgan Paulson finished eighth and ninth respectively. “Many of these performances have positioned these athletes to contend for a spot at the NCAA first round,” said Lancaster. “It is a great feeling to see all the teams hard work start to come together.” The Trojans then took a trip to Athens, Ga., this past weekend to participate in the Georgia Spec Town Relays. Two individuals won their respective race during the relays, Morgan Paulson in the 5,000-meter run and Kemper Morton in the 1,500-meter. Nicole Studstill had her best outing of the season with a 42.46-meter throw in the discus, earning her fifth place. Veronica Bryant took fourth in all three competitions she competed in, the long jump, javelin and 800-meter run. Mackenzie Howell had a great performance with a season best throw of 61.73 meters, over seven more that his personal best. Eddie Lynn once again broke his school record for the discus throw with 54.22 meters. The performances by these athletes has coach Lancaster optimistic as the season’s end draws near. “We as a staff can really see the strides being made as we close in on our conference championship,” said Lancaster. “We have had a hard competitive run these last few weeks with Auburn and Georgia, now we go back to Auburn and then finish at home with the Coach O Invitational before heading up to conference.”
Staff Writer
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