Tech begins OVC Indoors defending pentathlon title

Tech begins OVC Indoors defending pentathlon title

By Layne Weitzel, TTU Sports Information

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Tennessee Tech opened the 2018 OVC Indoor Championships on Friday on a high note, collecting an individual title in the first event of the two-day conference meet.

Junior Khemani Roberts took the pentathlon title with a school-record 3,834 points, keeping the event title in Cookeville for another year. Roberts won the pentathlon's high jump with a school-record mark of 1.79m and the shot put at 11.42m to propel her to the title. Teammate Sharnique Leonce, the OVC pentathlon champion in 2017, came in fourth.

As a team, Tech sits in third place with 35 points following the first day of competition, just behind Tennessee State (40 points).

"We had a good day," said head coach Wayne Angel. "It wasn't exactly what we wanted, but it certainly wasn't a bad day. We had some peaks and valleys, but that's athletics. We had some athletes step up and others did not rise to the occasion. That's life.

"I'm very happy for Khemani. She set two records in the high jump and the pentathlon. She made us all proud."

Tech's distance medley relay squad of Stremler, Jackson, Anna Cooper and Rennick finished as the runner-up in the event, timing 12:01.12 and pulling in eight points.

Roberts also received a bronze medal for her third-place finish in the high jump.

Many of Tech's events on Friday served as prelims for Saturday's finals, which means Saturday could be a big scoring day for Tech. In all, the team qualified 10 Golden Eagles to five different finals.

Lisa Wickham, Ceirra Tate and Na'Asha Robinson will each appear in the 60m dash finals; Robinson and Tate will also pull double-duty in the 200m dash finals; Robinson and D'Airrien Jackson will be the 1- and 2-seeds in the 400m dash; Micayla Rennick and Madison Stremler advance to the 800m dash finals; and Sharnique Leonce will represent Tech in the 60m hurdles finals.

"Tomorrow we have an opportunity to do something very special," said Angel. "Our ladies have to want it more than us coaches. We have a lot of qualifiers. We are in a good position to score a lot of points. If Tech is going to make their dream come true, they are going to have to want and fight for it."

RESULTS from FRIDAY, FEB. 23 
60m dash (prelims)
Lisa Wickham – 7.541; 2nd overall (qualifies for finals)
Ceirra Tate – 7.549; 3rd overall (qualifies for finals)
Na'Asha Robinson – 7.726; 7th overall (qualifies for finals)
Sharnique Leonce – 7.84; 12th overall
 
200m dash (prelims)
Na'Asha Robinson – 24.67; 1st overall (qualifies for finals)
Ceirra Tate – 25.00; 3rd overall (qualifies for finals)
Lisa Wickham – 25.91; 10th overall
Khemani Roberts – 26.11; 12th overall
 
400m dash (prelims)
Na'Asha Robinson – 54.86; 1st overall (qualifies for finals)
D'Airrien Jackson – 54.89; 2nd overall (qualifies for finals)
Teauna Anderson – 1:02.37; 24th overall
 
800m run (prelims)
Micayla Rennick – 2:13.90; 1st overall (qualifies for finals)
Madison Stremler – 2:17.30; 6th overall (qualifies for finals)
Anna Cooper – 2:24.62; 16th overall
Courtney McCowan – 2:39.24; 25th overall
 
5000m run
Purity Sanga – 17:29.47; 4th overall
 
60m hurdles
Sharnique Leonce – 8.90; 6th overall (qualifies for finals)
Eshe Robinson – 9.45; 17th overall
 
DMR
Madison Stremler/D'Airrien Jackson/Anna Cooper/Micayla Rennick – 12:01.12; 2nd overall
 
High jump
Khemani Roberts – 1.70m; 3rd overall
Na'Scottisha Drummond – 1.60m; 14th overall
Eshe Robinson – 1.50m; tied for 15th overall
 
Long jump
Sharnique Leonce – 5.43m; 8th overall
Khemani Roberts – 5.41m; 9th overall
 
Pentathlon
Khemani Roberts – 3,834 points; 1st overall / new school record
            60m hurdles – 9.02; 4th overall
            High jump – 1.79m; 1st overall / new school record
            Shot put – 11.42m; 1st overall
            Long jump – 5.60m; 2nd overall
            800m dash – 2:36.79; 7th overall
Sharnique Leonce – 3,378 points; 4th overall
            60m hurdles – 8.91; 2nd overall
            High jump – 1.61m; 4th overall
            Shot put – 7.99m; 10th overall
            Long jump – 5.49m; 3rd overall
            800m dash – 2:37.16; 8th overall
 
SCHEDULE for SATURDAY, FEB. 24
Triple jump – Raven Smith
Mile run – Micayla Rennick
400m dash (finals) – Na'Asha Robinson, D'Airrien Jackson
60m dash (finals) – Na'Asha Robinson, Ceirra Tate, Lisa Wickham
60m hurdles (finals) – Sharnique Leonce
800m run (finals) – Micayla Rennick, Madison Stremler
200m dash (finals) – Ceirra Tate, Na'Asha Robinson
3000m run – Micayla Rennick, Purity Sanga
4x400m relay – Na'Asha Robinson/Ceirra Tate/Khemani Roberts/D'Airrien Jackson
 
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Eastern Kentucky (51 points)
2. Tennessee State (40 points)
3. TENNESSEE TECH (35 points)
4. Southeast Missouri (31 points)
5. Austin Peay (26 points)
6. Murray State (23.5 points)
T7. Eastern Illinois (23 points)
T7. SIUE (23 points)
9. Jacksonville State (10.5 points)
10. Belmont (9 points)
11. Morehead State (1 point)
 
TENNESSEE TECH'S TITLES
Pentathlon (Khemani Roberts) – 3,834 points
 
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Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information