The Owls have sent several students and staff members, both current and former, to compete in multiple championship events over the break.
The first to compete was freshman Aliyah Whisby, who earned 17th place in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which took place June 6-10. Participating in seven events overall, Whisby finished in the top 10 for the women’s 100- and 200-meter dashes as well as the long jump, while managing to tie for second in the high jump. Of all athletes, her finish was the third-highest among freshmen.
The following week contained another stellar performance from freshman Tyler Jones, who finished fourth in the finals of the men’s long jump at the 2018 USA Track and Field Junior Outdoor Championships. His performance put him in the top four for all U-20 athletes in the U.S. and was only an inch from progressing to World Juniors.
Although he was disappointed by being only an inch off the mark, Jones didn’t let the setback get to his head.
“Injuries got me in the end, but I think I had a great freshman year still finishing as one of the top four U-20 athletes in the U.S.,” Jones said. “I couldn’t be happier with my performance.”
The USATF Outdoor Championships took place the following week and hosted current volunteer track and field assistant coaches Solomon Simmons and Andre Dorsey.
Simmons took part in the decathlon at the event and came up huge, amassing over 8,000 points en route to a second place finish overall. Of the 10 events included, Simmons finished in the top three in seven of them and never dropped out of the top ten.
“To already be an elite athlete and break the 8000 point barrier in his first year with this training program is great to see and there’s a lot more in the tank,” said Director of Track and Field Andy Eggerth. “To give an idea of the accomplishment, over 3000 people have climbed Mount Everest, over 1400 men have broken the four-minute mile, but Solomon is only the 81st American to surpass 8000 points in the decathlon.”
Dorsey participated in only the long jump where he finished 12th overall with a distance of 7.63 meters.
Next fall, the track teams will seek to continue their collective dominance in the Atlantic Sun Conference as well as growing individual skills and abilities.
