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APSU Track and Field has solid performance at Vulcan Invitational

APSU Sports Information

APSU Women's Track and FieldBirmingham, AL – Austin Peay State University (APSU) track and field got its first look at the site of the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships at Saturday’s Vulcan Invite, where a number of Govs found the new accommodations to their liking.

As a group, Austin Peay enjoyed 14 top-10 finishes, with another pole vault win highlighting a strong weekend for head coach Doug Molnar‘s crew.

Austin Peay Women's Track and Field had 14 top 10 finishes at Vulcan Invitational, Saturday. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Women’s Track and Field had 14 top 10 finishes at Vulcan Invitational, Saturday. (APSU Sports Information)

“I was very pleased with our efforts today,” Molnar said. “We had a tough week of practice, and this was definitely a step up in terms of competition, with several SEC and Power 5/Group of 5 teams. We didn’t back down at all.”

Sophomore Sabrina Richman proved her performance last weekend was no fluke, winning the second heat of the 400m dash by nearly two seconds and finishing fourth overall with a 55.78 mark, the first time in her Austin Peay career she’s gone below 56 seconds in back-to-back meets. Junior Amelia Thiesing also turned in a top-10 showing, finishing 10th overall at 58.51.

Junior Tymeitha Tolbert placed fifth in the 60m dash with a 7.64 mark, while freshman Kyra Wilder just missed qualifying for the finals after her 7.74 in the prelims. In the short hurdles, both Lennex Walker (8.87) and Camaryn McClelland (personal-best 8.90) advanced to the finals, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively.

In the 3000m run, senior Emmaculate Kiplagat finished seventh overall with a 10:36.94 mark, her best indoor showing since last season’s OVC Indoor Championships. To close the running portion of the event, Richman and Thiesing were joined by sophomore Allana Johnson and freshman Madison Morstad to post a runner-up showing thanks to their season-best 3:57.28 mark—Austin Peay’s second sub-four minute relay this season.

Senior Savannah Amato won the pole vault (of course), equaling her season-best with a 3.95m mark; classmate Dascha Hix placed fourth with a 3.80m height, with sophomore Morgan Bradley seventh (3.35m).

In the jumps, junior Maya Perry-Grimes earned a runner-up showing in the triple with an 11.37m leap—her first attempt at the triple since last May’s OVC Outdoor Championships. Sophomore Denia Hill-Tate turned in a 1.59m high jump, taking sixth, while over in the throw pits, freshman Jackie Verseman once again earned a top-10 showing in the weight throw, her third in a row, placing 10th with a 13.51m toss.

“Now we have to step up during the next couple of weeks of practice and take it to another level,” Molnar said. “How Saturday goes is determined by what you do Monday-through-Friday. We need to keep piling up good weeks of practice.”

The APSU Govs keep the indoor session going next weekend with a return to Nashville Tennessee, their third trek down I-24 over five meets, for the Vanderbilt Invitational, January 18th-19th.

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