APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University track and field team exits the midstate area for the first time in the 2015-16 indoor season, when the Govs compete in the ETSU Invitational, beginning 10:00am, Friday, in Johnson City, TN.
Senior Breigh Jones is back in the 400m event this weekend, and is the top-seeded performer among 82 competitors in the event. She’s also seeded second in the 200m. This will be her first attempt at short sprints this indoor season after competing in the 800m run at Vanderbilt and Tennessee State. Junior Molly Jordan will compete in the 800m, however, and is slated for the third seed in the event.
Also expected to perform at a high level in multiple events is senior Kymmalett Ross. The Northwest High School product is seeded sixth in both the 60m (7.50) and 200m (24.32) dashes.
Ross, Jones and juniors Terri Morris and Michaela McGhee also are expected to be among the top finishers in the 4x400m relay. Morris, who ranks 41st nationally in the 400m this season, also will compete in that event.
Last season in this event, Jones smashed the school record in the 400m, lowering to 54.97 as the first APSU runner to break 55 seconds in the indoor event. Later, she—alongside Ross, Morris and Jessica Gray—broke the 3:50 barrier in the 4x400m for the first time in 2015 with a 3:49.58 mark, placing them fourth.
Junior Myiah Johnson leads Austin Peay’s hurdles contingent into the meet. The second overall seed, Johnson is joined by junior Amia Butler, sophomore Sonja White and freshman Christiana Harris among the top competitors in the field.
Newcomers Savannah Amato and Dascha Hix have been fast risers in the pole vault. After placing first and second, respectively, at last weekend’s Ed Temple Invitational, the duo are seeded third and fourth to begin this week’s event. They rank as the top two pole vaulters in the Ohio Valley Conference heading into the weekend. Another newcomer, Nia Gibbs, is seeded fourth in the high jump.
Hopes are high for junior Kaylnn Pitts, who enters competition as the top seed in the long jump and triple jump. This will be the first competition this season in which she will compete in both events, after not competing at Vanderbilt and participating only in the long jump last weekend. As ever, she will be joined by junior Chancis Jones (seeded second in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump), who currently ranks second in the OVC and 24th in the nation in the long jump, with Butler and junior Ashleigh Woods also seeded among the best athletes in the event.
Following this two-day event, the Govs return to campus for the first week of classes before embarking on a trip to Bloomington, Indiana for the Gladstein Invitational, January 22nd-23rd.
