COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech women's track &
field team gets back to work this weekend, opening the outdoor
season Friday and Saturday at the Black & Gold Invitational
hosted by Vanderbilt University. A total of 19 teams and close to
700 athletes will compete in the event, which begins Friday evening
at 5 p.m. with the hammer throw, shot put and triple jump.
Most of Tech's action will take place Saturday, with field events
beginning at 9 a.m. and the track portion of the meet starting at
11 a.m. Coach Tony Cox will take 23 women and five men to the meet,
the first of seven events on the outdoor slate for the Golden
Eagles.
Fourteen of the 23 women are scheduled to compete in multiple
events, with sophomore Rebecca Cline planning to run in three
events -- the 800m, 1,500m and 3,00m races.
While 21 of the 23 participated during the indoor season, it will
mark the first competition of the year for Golden Eagle juniors
Haley Wennerstrom and Katie Lowery. In fact, the Vanderbilt meet
will mark the first action for Lowery in the pole vault in more
than a year. The Andersonville, Tenn., product is the school record
holder in the pole vault, both indoor and outdoor, but did not
compete in the outdoor season last year nor the indoor season this
year. She has cleared the 10-foot mark in both seasons.
Wennerstrom's last meet was during the 2011 OVC Outdoor
Championships.
In addition to Lowery, seven others who will be in action this
weekend have also had an impact on the Tech record books during
their careers, led by Kelli Keck who owns the school record in the
triple jump which she established last spring. The other six have
their times or distances listed among the school's all-time Top
Five marks during outdoor competition.
That group includes senior Emily Weinzetl with the fifth-best time
at 400m; senior Traci Jones with the third-best 800m time;
sophomore Brittany Cotto with the fifth-best time in the 400-meter
hurdles; junior Lacy Yslas with the third-best toss in the discus;
junior Madison Borden with the fourth-best effort in both the shot
put and discus; and Wennerstom with the fifth-best throw in the
hammer.
For a list of the schedule of events, click here; for a look at the heat sheets, click here.
Complete results will be available on TTUsports.com when they
become available each night.
