By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
May 10-12, 2018
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It was a warm May weekend in Cookeville, but it wasn't just the temperatures heating up the Tucker Stadium track as the Tennessee Tech women's track and field team was burning rubber, dominating the competition as it earned the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
The Golden Eagles finished with 151 points – well out of reach of second-place Murray State at 101 – and earned Wayne Angel his second OVC Track and Field Coach of the Year honor to go along with the Indoor award he received after Tech won the indoor championship just three months earlier.
Khemani Roberts put herself In great condition in the heptathlon as she finished fourth or better in the first day's four events. Roberts won the high jump with a 1.73m (5'8") effort, finished second in the 200m dash (24.62), third in the 100m hurdles (14.64) and fourth in the shot put with a 11.17m (36' 7.75") throw.
The championship's first night ended on a high note as senior Micayla Rennick pulled away from Eastern Kentucky's Gladys Cheriuyot with about two laps to go in the 10,000m run and left her in the dust to take first place in the event.
The efforts gave Tech a one-point lead over the Colonels after the first day of competition, leading 14-13.
In the second day, Tech dipped down in the standings to fifth and stood just six points behind SIUE, but the Golden Eagles put themselves in position for a big day in Saturday's finals.
Along the way, Roberts wrapped up the heptathlon as she finished third in the long jump with a 5.49m leap, third in the javelin (33.09m, 108'7") and fourth in the 800m run (2:31.59). The results were good enough to land a podium spot as she finished second in the overall event with 5,214 points.
She was on the podium again that afternoon as she finished third in the high jump, completing the same mark she had the previous day.
But Saturday, the final day, was pure domination. With 33 points after the first two days, the Golden Eagles went full-throttle, earning 118 points on the final day of competition, winning the overall total by 50 points.
Tech achieved that with seven first-place finishes – two relay championships and five individuals – and eight more podium spots in the final day, scoring in 12 of 19 events.
The team of Ceirra Tate, Na'Asha Robinson, D'Airrien Jackson and Lisa Wickham set an OVC championship and Tech record in the 4x100m relay, posting a 45-second-flat time in the event. In the final event of the day, the Golden Eagles accomplished the same in the 4x400 as Robinson, Tate, Jackson and Roberts completed the circuit in 3:37.74 for another conference and school record – nearly eight seconds ahead of the second-place team.
Rennick took home a first-place finish in the 1500m run (4:36.80), then second in the 800m (2:13:45) and the 5000m run (17:26.60) as she claimed the OVC's Athlete of the Championship and Female Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year – going along with the same honors she claimed as the Golden Eagles won the indoor championship just a few months before.
Robinson also earned a first-place medal in the 400m dash (53.25) and set an OVC and Tech record in the 200m dash with a 23.02 time. Jackson took first place in the 400m hurdles, finishing with a 1:00.16 mark.
On the final day, Tech also got podium finishes from Raven Smith (third in the triple jump), Jackson (second in the 400m dash) and Tate (third in the 200m dash).
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information