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HomeSportsTrack and Field gets underway at Saluki Fast Start

Track and Field gets underway at Saluki Fast Start

APSU Women’s Track and Field

Austin Peay State University GovernorsClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University women’s track and field team will be looking to replace a pair of outstanding field athletes when it opens the indoor track and field season at the Saluki Fast Start, hosted by Southern Illinois, beginning with the women’s pole vault at 11:30am, Friday, in at the SIU Rec Center.

The event will consist of 23 teams, including Big East teams Louisville and South Florida, along with Belmont and Division II power Lincoln (MO).

APSU Women's Track and Field. (Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)
APSU Women's Track and Field. (Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)

The Lady Govs will be taking a small group made up mostly of sprinters and jumpers. Head coach Doug Molnar hopes to use this opportunity to compete as a measuring stick of the team’s fall training program. Understandably, Austin Peay will be looking to replace OVC Champion vaulters Carrie Burggraf and Molly Bartkieweicz, as well as standout sprinter and hurdler Amanda McCoy.

“We lost three key seniors,” Molnar said, “but we have a very strong freshman class and some outstanding returnees. This meet will give us a chance to see how our fall program went. This group has worked very hard this fall and this will give us an idea of where we need to go as we head into the break.”

Leading the Lady Govs will be senior sprinter Chiamaka Obi, the school-record holder in the 400-meter dash, set at the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships. Obi headlines a group of five senior sprinters. Sophomore Leigha Tolliver, the defending OVC Indoor Freshman of the Year, will look to continue her dominance in the hurdles, where she led the team with 13 top-10 finishes.

“Chimaka will lead a very strong sprint group for us,” Molnar said. “Leigha will be back in the hurdles and jumps along with Cenitra Hudson, who had a very strong fall in the long and triple jumps.”

Austin Peay is opening its indoor season with two pre-Christmas events; the Saluki Fast Start, this weekend, and the MT Christmas Invitational, December 11th, at Middle Tennessee. The two early meets will offer Molnar’s young team some extra experience heading into their typical indoor winter schedule in January.

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