Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) track and field is back in business this weekend at the Western Kentucky-hosted Hilltopper Relays at Charles Reuter Track.
This will be a true two-day affair, with many field events set to go Friday afternoon before the bulk of the running events take off on Saturday.
The Govs will compete against student-athletes from host Western Kentucky as well as Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech, with Bellarmine, Cleveland State, Grand Valley State, Middle Tennessee, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Western Michigan to represent Division I.
This will be a return home for Governors head coach Valerie Brown, who enjoyed an All-American career for Western Kentucky from 2007-09.
Friday will see Karlijn Schouten look to make it three-for-three in pole vault wins this season, which follows the men’s event beginning at 1:00pm Denia Hill-Tate will face a tough field in the high jump at that same time with six scheduled competitors qualifying with marks at 1.68-meters or better.
After setting the program-record in the hammer throw last week, Kori McDaniel will be back at it alongside Jackie Verseman and Shyanna Chapman, who both were among the top 10 finishers in the event last week at the Margaret Simmons Invitational and both joined McDaniel in the program’s top-10 career marks as well. McDaniel and Verseman will compete in the shot put immediately preceding the hammer throw as well.
In the long jump, the Govs will send out the formidable trio of Maya Perry-Grimes, Jessica Kelley, and Jessica Hoban and will close out the day with Sara Martin leading a trio of Govs in the 5000-meter.
Saturday will dawn with the final three field events scheduled for a 9:00am CT start—Perry-Grimes, Hoban and Lennex Walker are three to watch in the triple jump, with Chapman, McDaniel, and Verseman in the javelin—before the track events get under way at noon.
Reigning OVC Track Athlete of the Week Kenisha Phillips will run both the 100 and 200 meter events this week and will no doubt factor into some portion of the relays for the Govs as well. Relays specialist Alanna Johnson will run the 400-meter as an individual this week, with Rayven Thomasson—who is quickly assuming an important role in the relays—set to join Johnson in the 200 and 400 as well.
After her 5K appearance Friday night, Martin will return to action in the 1500-meter run Saturday afternoon—her brother Ryan, of the men’s cross country team, will run the same events on the men’s side as well. Lennex Walker and Kamille Dunbar will be among the favorites in the 100-meter hurdles, with Kelley and Mikaela Smith challenging for supremacy in the 400 hurdles as well.
A complete recap of events from both days of competition will be available at LetsGoPeay.com.
