Clarksville, TN – The attention of Govs fans have been focused on the Austin Peay men’s and women’s basketball teams this past month, with the indoor track and field team having had a 41-day layoff between meets, but even that layoff hasn’t kept the Lady Govs from showing their mettle in trying to better their third-place finish in the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Indoor championships.
And it’s no surprise that among the many highlights so far in this promising season has been the continued results from junior Breigh Jones, as the Memphis, TN native continues to break school records almost every time she takes the track.
A prime example came this past weekend at the East Tennessee State University Invitational, as she became the first Lady Gov to crack the 55 second barrier in the 400m with a time of 54.97 – just missing out on beating the defending world indoor champion Jernail Hayes – to finish second overall in the event that began with 92 runners.
Although the 400m is her specially, Jones also plays a big part in the Lady Govs relay teams as evidenced at ETSU when she and her teammates — junior Kymmalett Ross, senior Jessica Gray and sophomore Terri Morris – broke the 3:50 mark for the first time at 3:49.58.
But it’s not just Jones that has been breaking records for APSU, with senior Erika Adams equaled her own school record in the 60m dash in the Music City Challenge on December 4th with a time of 7.65, while Gray posted a school-record run of 2:59.92 in the 1000m – becoming the first APSU athlete to break three minutes in the event.
In the longer events this season, freshman Rebecca Wheeler posted top-eighth finish in the 3000m at ETSU — narrowly missing a personal-best with an 11:15.58 – while freshman Sarah Carpenter posted an even better time of 10:56.71 at the Middle Tennessee Christmas Invitational right before the holiday break.
In the hurdles, sophomore Amia Butler has posted a time (8.76) in the 60m distance that is already better than any time she posted a year ago.
But it’s not just on the track where the Lady Govs have shined so far, with Austin Peay getting solid performances in field events.
Austin Peay’s triple jumpers, sophomores Kaylnn Pitts and Chancis Jones have had proven that last year’s efforts weren’t a fluke, while freshman Gretchen Rosch already has a win under her belt this season in the pole vault and junior transfer Michella Carter a win in the shot put.
These performances and these events are just a few of the outstanding efforts that will hopefully continue as the Lady Govs work to the OVC championships on February 27th and 28th in Charleston, IL with hopes to make a strong run at the OVC title.
