By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After earning the first two Ohio Valley Conference titles in school history a season ago, fifth-year head coach Wayne Angel leads his Tennessee Tech women's track and field team into the first stop on their journey to repeat as champions, when they take part in the Vanderbilt Indoor Opener on Saturday morning beginning at 10 a.m.
Angel, a three-time OVC Coach of the Year who claimed the honor for both indoor and outdoor in 2018, saw individual conference champions crowned in eight different events last indoor season, and another seven during the outdoor campaign.
Among the pieces coming back after last season's historic run are four NCAA East Preliminary Round qualifiers, four OVC champions, and five athletes who scored points at the OVC Championship meets.
Despite the returning riches and the tremendous potential for more outstanding team success, Angel is taking a cautious approach to the first meet of the year, and viewing it primarily as a progress report for his team's offseason preparations.
"We are fortunate to be able to compete this weekend so that we can assess where we are in our training," he said. "At this early point in the season, it's important for us as coaches to evaluate what's working and what isn't, and make the necessary adjustments in preparation for the OVC Championships. It's important to remember that it is only December, and I talk to our team about being great in February and May."
However, he's also eager to see his team's competitive edge for the first time.
"This meet will give them the chance to compete against someone other than their teammates," Angel said. "No matter how hard you train, you can't hide in true competition. We will find out who's competitive and who's hungry."
Senior jumper and multi-event athlete Khemani Roberts will be one of the team members expected to spearhead the effort in 2019. The senior from Trinidad and Tobago was a three-time conference champion over the course of the 2018 campaigns.
Roberts cruised to her first league title in the pentathlon, where she compiled a score of 3,834 points. She then ran one leg on the 4x400m relay team that claimed conference crowns at both the indoor and outdoor league championships.
Roberts was also a force in the heptathlon, as well as the indoor and outdoor high jump.
She was the runner-up in the heptathlon with 5,214 points at the outdoor conference championships, and placed third in both the indoor and outdoor high jump with marks of 1.70 meters (5-feet, 7-inches) and 1.73 meters (5-8).
Roberts qualified for the high jump at the outdoor NCAA East Preliminaries, where she finished 21st with a leap of 1.75 meters (5-8 3/4).
For her career, Roberts is a seven-time OVC champion and a three-time NCAA East Preliminary Round qualifier. She is scheduled to compete in a pair of sprints events at Vanderbilt, the 60-meter and 300-meter dashes.
Fellow senior D'Airrien Jackson is another prime contributor returning from last year's squad, as she joined Roberts' on the championship 4x400m relay teams, and claimed one of her own with a time of 59.37 seconds in the 400m hurdles at the outdoor championships.
Jackson also finished second in the outdoor 400m with a time of 53.68 seconds, and earned the opportunity to compete in the event at the NCAA Preliminaries, where she was 20th with a time of 53.03 seconds.
Overall, Jackson is an eight-time conference champion and a three-time NCAA qualifier, and won the OVC Freshman of the Year award for the 2016 outdoor season.
Jackson will start her season off by joining Roberts in the 60m, and toeing the line in the 600m as well.
Fresh off her incredible cross country season that saw her win an individual OVC championship and claim a trip to her second straight NCAA Championship meet, Purity Sanga will now use her superb distance running talents for the betterment of the indoor track and field team.
Sanga will look to replace the void left by now-graduated Tech great Micayla Rennick, who was the cornerstone of the Golden Eagles' success last year, as she was named the Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Championships for the indoor and outdoor campaigns.
Sanga took home fourth place in the 5,000 meters and fifth place in the 3,000 meters at the indoor OVC Championships last year, with times of 17:29.47 and 9:59.52, respectively. She was also an NCAA East Preliminary Round qualifier in the 10,000m run during the outdoor portion of the schedule.
Due to some last minute fluctuation, the full Tennessee Tech track and field schedule is not yet official or available for viewing. Stayed tuned to ttusports.com for further updates.
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
