Jordan medals, Lady Govs finish sixth at OVC Outdoor Championships

APSU Track and Field

Murray, KY – Austin Peay State University women’s track and field team finished sixth at the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Saturday, at Murray State’s Roy Stewart Stadium.

Eastern Illinois’ women took home their second-straight outdoor championship with 185 points, followed closely by Southeast Missouri at 181. There was distance between second and third, as Eastern Kentucky managed 136 points and Jacksonville State was at 106.5, in third and fourth, respectively. Murray State (48), Austin Peay (44), Tennessee State (34.5), Tennessee Tech (25) and Morehead State (16) rounded out the field.

While the Lady Govs improved one position after the final day, it was not enough to overcome the injuries and lack of depth that plagued the team. Senior Courtney Jordan earned Austin Peay’s only medal with a third-place finish in the javelin.

“I can’t say enough about the effort Courtney has put in,” head coach Doug Molnar said. “She’s worked hard her entire career and to get on the medal stand as a senior makes it all worth it. She had a great throw today and it was big in helping us climb out.

Austin Peay needed a strong day in the distance and field events in order to make up for missing out on the finals in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Without three-time medalist senior Chiamaka Obi, the Lady Govs found themselves in an early hole which was tough to dig out.

“We buried ourselves pretty good on the first day and we knew it was going to be tough to get out,” head coach Doug Molnar said. “We came back and had a decent day, but it just wasn’t enough.”

The relay teams looked to set the pace for the day, as the 4×100 team finished fourth (49.29) for five points. Candace Cullors ran the lead, followed by Jasmine Moody and Leigha Tolliver with Cenitra Hudson as the anchor. From there, Alxy Pinkston earned three points with a sixth-place 400-meter finish (58.51).

Xiamar Richards and Latoya Monger each finished eighth in the 1500-meter (4:53.85) and the 100-meter hurdles (15.27), respectively. Ashley Carson also finished eighth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:07.18) and Zakiya Alcantara was eighth in the pole vault.

Austin Peay had two scorers in the triple jump. Hudson took fourth with a 11.28m jump and Tolliver was behind her in fifth at 11.10m. The final relay – the 4×400-meter – saw Jasmin Scott, Taelor Slaughter, Shannon Christian and Pinkston finish fifth with a time of 3:58.21.