Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams opened up their outdoor season at three meets: Ole Miss-Joe Walker Invite, Raleigh Relays and Emory Classic on March 24-25.
At the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina, men’s and women’s track and field team competed in the 4x200m relay.
Both teams set a new school record for the 4x200m. The women ran a time of 1 minute and 37.63 seconds. The men came in at 1 minute and 25.87 seconds.
Seniors Maileka Slayton and Laura-Maria Oja, junior Jocselyn Powell and redshirt senior Hannah Wood made up the women’s team. Juniors Nick Grant and Sean Blassingame teamed up with freshmen Cameron Bolden and Chandler Nichols for the men’s team.
The team members made other notable marks at the Raleigh Relays and Emory Classic, including Erica Sergeant, who posted a pole vault height of 3.80m. This not only got the junior first place at the meet but was only 1 centimeter off the school record.
Senior thrower Fabeon Tucker also had an impressive day, throwing the discus 49m. This was the third-farthest throw in Kennesaw’s history. Freshman Lexi Froh ran a time of 11:35.80 in the 3000m steeplechase, which is Kennesaw’s fourth-fastest time in program history.
At the University of Ole Miss Joe Walker Invitational in Oxford, Mississippi, the combined event athletes set out to compete in the decathlon and the heptathlon, despite the cold and stormy weather.
Freshmen David Lott and Paris Williams, along with redshirt senior Joshua Mulder, competed in the decathlon — a two-day event consisting of the 100m dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m dash, 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500m run.
Mulder placed second with 6,201 points, Lott placed fourth with 6,007 points, and Williams placed fifth with 5,961. Impressively, Williams and Mulder landed in their places after scoring no points in the pole vault.
Freshman Jessica Watkins, redshirt sophomore Jordan Gray and senior Shakedra Robinson all competed in the heptathlon, which included 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m dash, long jump, javelin and the 800m run.
Gray placed first and broke the school record with 5,377 points. She also broke KSU’s records in the heptathlon 200m (25.29), shot put (12.55m) and javelin (37.04), placing her second in the nation.
Robinson placed second with 4,476 points, and Watkins placed fourth with 4,206 points.
“This weekend was about having the opportunity to compete in outdoor events,” said head coach Andy Eggerth. “Some of those leave room for improvement, but all-in-all we continue to build upon our indoor championship success with five school records.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams will head to Gainesville, Florida, on March 30 to compete in the 2017 Pepsi Florida Relays.
