APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University women’s track and field team returns to action this weekend in Bloomington, IN, site of the Gladstein Invitational, hosted by Indiana. The two-day event, January 23rd-24th, will be held inside Gladstein Fieldhouse.
Austin Peay athletes will be up against competitors from the likes of Cincinnati, Kent State, Western Michigan, Ball State and Xavier, in addition to the host Hoosiers.
Austin Peay also is scheduled to match up against foes from Ohio Valley Conference schools Eastern Kentucky, Belmont and Tennessee State.
“This will be a strong meet with a lot of high-caliber athletes in both track and field,” said head coach Doug Molnar. “After last week, we know the areas we need to improve and I’m confident we’ll see better numbers this week.”
Two-time defending OVC Track Athlete of the Week Breigh Jones will step away from her specialty, the 400m dash, but will compete in the invitational 600m (a non-NCAA standard event) and run a leg of Austin Peay’s top-flight 4x400m relay team.
While Jones will not see time in the 400m, her relay partner Terri Morris will. Morris picked up a spot in the 400m invitational event, featuring two runners (Indiana’s Brie Roller and Western Michigan’s Ayiana Gaines) ranking in the top-100 nationally. Senior Jessica Gray received an invitational nod as well, in the 800m event.
Gray also will compete in – you guessed it – the 4x400m event, which is shaping up to be one of the premiere events for the weekend. Austin Peay, ranked 80th nationally, is one of three top-100 squads scheduled to compete, alongside Kent State (20th) and Indiana (87th).
“Our relays are shaping up to be really strong this season,” Molnar said. “This is another opportunity for them to show what they can do.”
This weekend will be the first look for sophomore Amia Butler in the multi-events. The Nashville native, who won bronze in the indoor pentathlon at last season’s OVC Indoor Championships, will compete in a field also featuring a trio of Tennessee State athletes, including 2014 OVC Championship gold-medalist Clairwin Dameus.
The triple-jump trio will be one short this weekend – while sophomore Kaylnn Pitts and freshman Keyondria Ross are scheduled to go, sophomore Chancis Jones is sitting this one out. Pitts and Ross face a formidable field that includes Cincinnati’s Rebecka Abrahamsson, ranked 18th nationally entering the weekend.
Austin Peay continues its 2015 indoor campaign next weekend in Huntington, WV, for the Marshall Invitational.
