Five first place finishes, four school records highlight track team's California visit

Five first place finishes, four school records highlight track team's California visit

 

BERKELEY, Cal. – Five first place finishes, four school records and six additional personal best marks. That was the harvest over the weekend for the Tennessee Tech track & field team at the University of California's Brutus Hamilton Invitational.

Tech's relay teams continued to impress, capturing first place in the 4x400m with a school record time, and claiming second place in the 4x100m race, less than a second off the school mark.

In addition to the relay record, Golden Eagles broke school records in the 200-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, and triple jump.

Na'Asha Robinson topped her own school record at 200m, lowering her time to 23.92 seconds in winning the event. The race results were top-heavy with Tech runners. In addition to Robinson, D'Airrien Jackson claimed third place, Sharnique Leonce was fifth and Morgan O'Neal placed 20th.

Tech only competed in five events on Saturday, and set school records in three. In the triple jump, Raven Smith beat her previous school record and finished third with a leap of 39 feet, 10.5 inches.

Next was the 100-meter hurdles, and Sharnique Leonce was clocked at 13.94 seconds. The beat the record of 14.33 set in 2009 by Meagan Lyons.

Tech's third record came in the final event of the day, when the 4x400m relay team cruised to a first place time of 3:41.15.

While not a school record, Leonce did capture first place in the high jump by clearing the bar at 5 feet, 4.25 inches. Junior Sarah Brandt claimed the other event victory, racing to first place in the 800m run with a time of 2:13.38.

Tech's next action comes Saturday, May 7, at the Kentucky Relays, the team's final competition before the OVC Championships, May 13-14.

FRIDAY RESULTS
Long Jump (Open) – (9) Sharnique Leonce, 16' 9.25" (PR)
High Jump (Open) – (1) Sharnique Leonce, 5' 4.25"  (PR)
                                      (8) NaScottisha Drummond, 5' 0.25"  
Javelin (Inv) – (3) Antonia Susnjar, 125' 9"
4x100m Relay (Open) – (2) Tech, 47.48
1,500m Run (Open) – (11) Jenna Storms, 5:01.81 (PR)
                                            (15) Anna Cooper, 5:05.01 (PR)
400m (Open) – (11) Jaydean Joesph, 1:02.01 
100m (Open) – (22) Morgan O'Neal, :13.22
800m (Open) – (1) Sarah Brandt, 2:13.38
400m Hurdles (Open) – (5) Crystal Liebenberg, 1:04.90 (1:04.00) (PR)
                                                (7) Madison Stremler, 1:06.45
200m (Open) – (1) Na'Asha Robinson, :23.92 (SCHOOL RECORD)
                              (3) D'Airrien Jackson, :24.68
                               (5) Sharnique Leonce, :24.79  (PR)
                               (20) Morgan O'Neal, :26.37
5,000m (Inv) – (14) Purity Murray, 18:23.16

SATURDAY RESULTS
Triple Jump (Inv) – (3) Raven Smith, 39' 10.5" (SCHOOL RECORD)
100m Hurdles – (2) Sharnique Leonce, 13.94 (SCHOOL RECORD)
400m – (1) Na'Asha Robinson, 53.23
                (2) D'Airrien Jackson, 53.76
1,500m – (9) Sarah Brandt, 4:33.68
4x400m Relay – (1) 3:41.15 (SCHOOL RECORD)