By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A pair of podium finishes highlighted a day full of personal-best showings for the Tennessee Tech indoor track & field team, as the Golden Eagles wrapped up the first day of the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships fourth among the 10 league teams with 22 points.
Cayla Johnson kicked off Wednesday's festivities for the purple and gold, immediately providing points with a huge personal record in the long jump. The indoor rookie produced a jump of 5.91 meters (19'4.75") to place second overall and collect the first eight points for the Golden Eagles.
It was Ruby Wyles who delivered the top highlight of the day for the Tech squad, taking medalist honors with a first-place finish in the 5,000-meter run. The indoor freshman shattered her previous career-best showing by more than 30 seconds, winning the event by more than 11 seconds with a time of 17:07.17. It provided 10 huge points to the Golden Eagle effort.
Amanda Laboy, Maddie Long, and Rahab Sawe each set new personal standards in the event as well, led by the first-year indoor competitor Laboy. She picked up a valuable point for the purple and gold with an eighth-place finish and time of 18:07.51. Long crossed the finish line with a time of 18:25.11 to finish 12th while Sawe set her career mark with a time of 18:52.43.
Tech's distance medley relay team of Helen Pacurariu-Nagy, Amara Nwajagu, Nyla Armand, and Ruby Wyles combined to snag three more points for the team's total, securing a sixth-place showing in the final event of the day.
Britnie Dixon kept the purple and gold in the hunt for more points on day two of competition, qualifying for the 800-meter final with the fifth-fastest showing on the day. Her career PR came by way of a finish of 2:16.74.
Johnson followed up her performance in the long jump with another lifetime-best mark in the 60-meter hurdles. The Upper Marlboro, Md. native clocked in at 9.06 seconds, finished 12th overall. Junior Anya Akili also produced a PR in the event, concluding her race just one spot back in 13th with a time of 9.10 seconds.
In the 400-meter dash, Nwajagu managed a PR of 58.91 seconds while concluding the day 12th overall. Trenia Stephens collected her own career highlight in the event, finishing 13th with a time of 59.34 seconds. Diamond Rush made it 3-for-3 with Golden Eagles collecting new records in the sprint, racing to a time of 1:00.22.
Ashtin Holman claimed her first of two personal records on the day in the 60-meter dash, speeding to a finish of 8.02 seconds. She also delivered a new self-best in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 26.49 seconds. Stephens made her second career highlight in the event as well, posting a time of 25.83 seconds.
Day two of the OVC Championships kick off with combined events at 9:00 a.m. CT. Field events will commence at 11:00 a.m. and running events will kick off at 12:30 p.m.
Photos by Michael Wade
