The University of Memphis track squad took a trip north to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, last weekend and left with second place honors. The men finished 5.5 points behind Southeast Missouri State University, with a score of 171, while the women finished 19 points behind Murray State University with 148 points.
Events started Friday evening with the men’s and women’s hammer throw. The men were led by Robert Watson who placed third overall – but was first among scoring athletes – with a mark of 61.75 meters on his third attempt. Vigdis Jonsdottir led the trio of Tiger women (Samantha Lenton and Amber Simpson) in a sweep, with a 63.07 meter mark.
Headlining Saturday morning was the 10,000 meter run. Payton Gleason took second place with a time of 30:26, about ten seconds behind first place and a full minute ahead of third. Freshman Vincent Chenier made his debut in the event at the meet and was the second Tiger to cross the line, at 31:27, to take fifth place. Solstice Saliba followed in Gleason’s step, also earning second place in the women’s race. She ran 38:02 and was followed by Sonsoles Martin Rodriguez who took third. Lauren Metzger, in her first 10,000 meter race, finishing in seventh place in 40:40.
The women’s 4x100 meter relay team – composed of Khaide’a Brown, Gabrielle Cross, Taja Booker and Paris Perkins – finished in third place, running 46.98 seconds. The men’s team of D’Angelo Whitehead, Brian West II, Shemar Vance and Austin Jackson took first in their respective race, crossing the line with 41.87 seconds on the clock.
Placing just outside of the top eight in the 1500 meter run was Peter Kostarellis with a time of 3:59.23. He finished 1.08 seconds behind eighth place to take 11th overall.
Although winning her heat, Mi’Asia Bergmann finished in fourth place in the 100 meter hurdles, leading the women’s team with her 14.70 second time. On the men’s side, Donovan Lajeunesse led the Tigers in the 110 meter hurdles. He placed fifth with a 15.48 second time, followed by Adam Yakobi in eighth at 15.92 seconds.
The trio of Gabrielle Cross (57.94 seconds), Savanna Owens (58.90 seconds) and Kayla Ford (59.45 seconds) all placed in the top eight in the women’s 400 meter dash. They placed third, sixth and eighth respectively. Adam Yakobi was the lone Tiger, on the men’s side, to finish in the top eight in the same event. He finished eighth with a time of 50.66 seconds.
In the 100 meter dash, Taja Booker placed eighth. She was the only Tiger to score on the women’s side, running 12.17 seconds for the distance. Austin Jackson and D’Angelo Whitehead dueled in the men’s race, with Jackson taking first place with a time of 10.64 seconds. Whitehead was not far behind at 10.69 seconds to take second place. Brian West II and Cody McKnight also scored, placing sixth and seventh in a duel of their own. The two finished a fraction of a second apart, with West II running 10.95 seconds and McKnight finishing at 10.96 seconds.
Brooke Mussche snagged a few points for the women in the 800 meter run, placing seventh with a time of 2:16. Peter Kostarellis doubled back from his 1500 to put some points up for the men. He finished sixth overall, crossing the line at 1:58.
Another trio of Tiger women put up points in the 200 meter dash. Khaide’a Brown (24.89 seconds), Taja Booker (24.97 seconds) and Gabrielle Cross (25.62 seconds) finished third, fourth and seventh in the event. Austin Jackson came back to win his third event on the day in 21.91 seconds. A flurry of Tigers followed him through the finish as Brian West II (21.98 seconds),
William Wharton (22.12 seconds), Shemar Vance (22.19 seconds) and D’Angelo Whitehead (22.26 seconds) finished in second, fifth, sixth and eighth place, dominating the rest of the final.
Saturday was also a continuation of dominance for the field events. Poorna Raorane and Samantha Lenton packed a one-two punch in the women’s shot put with throws of 15.09 meters and 14.70 meters. Adam Neely was the only scoring athlete on the men’s side of the event, placing first among attached athletes and second overall, with a throw of 16.89 meters.
The discus was yet another packed event for the women with Samantha Lenton taking home first place with a throw of 57.20 meters. She was followed by Mona Jaidi (49.47 meters), Liza Lap (48.90 meters) and Poorna Raorane (43.47 meters) who finished in second, fourth and seventh. The men also packed it in with Adam Neely taking home first place among scoring athletes with a throw of 52.99 meters. He was followed by Matthew Everett in second (51.50 meters), Robert Watson in fifth (48.16 meters) and Parker Evans in sixth (47.93 meters).
Rounding out the throwing events was the javelin. The women were led by Mona Jaidi who placed first with a throw of 49.24 meters. She was followed by Mari-Liis Tulev in third (44.45 meters) and Elina Nebl in fifth (42.11 meters). Max Emmerich won the men’s javelin, throwing 62.96 meters. Behind him was Wes Yerty who threw 55.76 meters, landing in fifth place among scoring athletes.
Two men placed in the long jump on Saturday. Robin Nool took second place with a 7.35 meter jump on his fifth attempt and Gage Ernsberger placed sixth with a 6.79 meter jump on his final attempt.
In the high jump, Ernsberger tied for third with a 1.95 meter jump and Jon’Terio Horton tied for sixth place with a 1.85 meter jump.
In the women’s triple jump Nicole Lawson snatched eighth place with an 11.35 meter attempt. She was the only Tiger in the event for both the men and women.
The Tigers return to action this week as they head south to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for the Crimson Tide Invitational, where they will face powerhouse teams such as Alabama, LSU and Georgia Tech.
Payton Gleason and the Memphis Tigers made a trip to Cape Girardeau, MO. over the weekend and left with second place accolades.
The Memphis Tigers made a trip to Cape Girardeau, MO. over the weekend and both the men and women left with second place accolades.
