By Jonathan Caudle, TTU Sports Information
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Tennessee Tech track and field team came out strong on the opening day of the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
"Proud of our team today is an understatement," expressed head coach Peter Dalton. "The spirit and team atmosphere of our Golden Eagles is so amazing."
In the 60m prelims, senior Lisa Wickham, freshman Lyn'Nikka Vance, and junior Ceirra Tate all advanced to the 60m finals on Thursday by winning their respective heats. Wickham turned in a blazing 7.34-second performance, the fastest of the opening day. Her time set a new conference meet record, surpassing her previous mark of 7.41 seconds that she set during the 2019 OVC Indoor Championships. Vance led her heat, crossing with a time of 7.57 seconds, while Tate led her heat, turning in a time of 7.591 seconds.
In the 200m, Tate and Vance advanced to the finals on Thursday, with both turning in top-8 times on the day. Tate won her heat with a time of 24.88 seconds. Vance placed second in her heat but turned in the sixth-fastest of the day with a 24.91-second performance. Anya Akili turned in a personal best in the 200m after running in 25.76 seconds.
The Golden Eagles distance medley relay team, consisting of Rahab Sawe, Jordan Toney, Alexa Brugere, and Nancy Jesang also had an outstanding performance placing sixth out of the 11-team field to score early points for Tech.
Tech turned in a trio of strong performances in the opening day's field events, which included a silver medalist and a pair of personal bests.
Vance turned in the best performance of the day as she claimed a place on the podium finishing second in the long jump as a freshman. She leaped for 5.95m (19' 6.25") on her first jump of the day.
Freshman Jalena Curbeam also had a strong performance in the long jump as she claimed a personal best with a 5.04m (16' 6.5") performance.
In the weight throw, Keyanna Word claimed a new personal best with an 11.03m (36" 2.25") toss on her third attempt of the day.
Up Next
Tech will wrap up the OVC Indoor Championships in Birmingham on Thursday. Fans can follow along with Day 2's action with live results here or by watching on ESPN+ live here. The ESPN+ stream will begin at 12 p.m. tomorrow.
Photo by Michael Wade, Wade Event Photography
