By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech outdoor track & field program treks to the north for the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted on the campus of SIUE at Ralph Korte Stadium in Edwardsville Thursday through Saturday.
OVC Outdoor Championships Information
May 11-13, 2023 – Located at Ralph Korte Stadium in Edwardsville, Ill. Thursday's action will kick off with combined events at 9:00 a.m. CT, field events at 11:00 a.m., and running events at 5:30 p.m. Friday will begin with combined events at 9:00 a.m., field events at 2:30 p.m., and running events at 5:30 p.m. Saturday's final action will kick off with field events at 11:00 a.m. and running events at 12:30 p.m.
What to Watch For
A number of Golden Eagles will look to match or improve on their results from the regular season, with sights set on scoring points for the purple and gold.
Leading the way will be sophomore sprinter Amara Nwajagu, who delivered the second-fastest time in the 400-meter dash in the OVC this season. She also turned in the sixth-best mark in the 200-meter dash while anchoring great efforts by Tech's 4x100-meter relay (fifth in the league) and 4x400-meter relay (first in the OVC) squads.
Rookies Paris Bowles and Sidnee Stanton both strive to end their freshman campaigns on high notes, with Bowles entering her first outdoor championships boasting the second-fastest performance in the 800-meter dash among OVC runners this season. Stanton boasts a top-10 performance in the long jump and top-15 showing in the triple jump.
Looking to dominate the jumps, veterans Kendall Medders and Jalena Curbeam enter with strong results this season in their respective specialties. Medders cleared the league's fifth-highest mark in the high jump while Curbeam delivered the sixth-longest leap in the triple jump.
On the distance side of things, Helen Pacurariu-Nagy will look to build off her impressive showing in the 5,000-meter run this season, a mark that was the seventh-fastest in the OVC. Rahab Sawe will look to at least duplicate, if not best her time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, which was good enough for the fifth-best in the conference. Maddie Long aims to match her 10,000-meter run effort, a time that placed fourth among league runners this year.
Anya Akili turned in the sixth-best performance in the heptathlon this season and the seventh-best 100-meter hurdle showing in the OVC. Cayla Johnson will also compete in the heptathlon while looking to match or better her showing in the high jump, a mark that tied with Medders for the fifth-highest in the league.
Photo by Emily Armstrong
