By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Senior Khemani Roberts dominated in women's pentathlon during the Tennessee Tech women's indoor track and field team's first day of the Fred Wilt Open, claiming first-place finishes in three of the five events and second-place marks in the other two.
Roberts finished the pentathlon with a total of 3,791 points, just shy of her personal best and Tech school record of 3,834, recorded at last year's Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at Eastern Illinois.
"Khemani had a great pentathlon," said Tech head coach Wayne Angel. "She dominated the competition and set a new school record in the long jump in the process."
Fellow senior Eshe' Robinson also had a strong performance, finishing fourth overall behind two competitors from host Purdue. Robinson concluded the event with 2,835 points, trailing her personal best of 3,038 in the 2017 OVC meet.
"Eshe also had a very good day," Angel said. "Both of them really got the ball rolling. Tomorrow should be a very good day."
Roberts got started in the 60m hurdles, surging to an 8.93 time in the event, two-tenths of a second faster than Purdue's Kyara Muhammad. Robinson (9.35) was fourth. The 8.93 mark in the 60m is her fastest time in the event, besting her 8.98 time last year in the same meet.
The Tech duo moved on to the high jump, with Roberts reaching 1.72 meters for first place, the only competitor in the field to reach that distance. Her personal best in the pentathlon, as well as overall, in the high jump stands at 1.79m, set at the 2018 OVC Indoors.
Competition continued in the shot put. Purdue's Rebecca Coan won the event with a throw of 11.26m to pass Roberts, whose first two throws put her in the lead with 10.47m and 10.92m in the first two passes. Roberts' final throw was short of Coan's mark at 10.81m.
Robinson finished in third in the event with a best mark of 8.76m.
In the long jump, Roberts took the top spot once again, besting Mohammad by nearly three-tenths of a meter. Roberts would have won the event with her first jump at 5.59m, but improved her score in the final rotation with a 5.72m performance.
The jump is Roberts' best in the long jump in pentathlon competition and set the Tech school record in the long jump, topping Sharnique Leonce's 5.64m leap in last February's Tyson Invitational.
Robinson finished fourth, beating Austin Peay's Nia Gibbs 5.03m to 4.91m.
Coan took first place in the final event, the 800m, as she finished with a 2:30.49 time, with Roberts (2:35.00) in second and Robinson (2:58.19) in fifth. Roberts led at the 200m split, but Coan started to break away at the 400m, had nearly a three-second lead at the 600m and kept building the lead to the end.
Action at the Fred Wilt Open continues tomorrow morning. Follow along with the Golden Eagles with live scoring at www.pttiming.com.