Athletics | July 15, 2014

2014 was a banner year for Austin Peay State University track and field. The Lady Govs finished third at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships and followed that with a runner-up finish at the Outdoor Championships, Austin Peay's best team finish since winning the title in 2001. Individually, sophomore Breigh Jones and freshman Kaylnn Pitts advanced to the NCAA East Preliminaries, with Jones moving on to the NCAA Championships.

As the calendar turned from February to March, Austin Peay found itself in seventh place entering the final day of competition at the OVC Indoor Championships, hosted by Tennessee State. But after a monster final day that saw them accumulate 72 points, the Lady Govs vaulted four spots to pick up their best indoor finish of head coach Doug Molnar's tenure.

Austin Peay re-wrote the record books on the final day, with five school marks falling. Senior Xiamar Hudson started the record-shattering day early, posting a runner-up finish in the mile run with a 5:02.25 mark, breaking Sheena Gooding's 2002 mark by nearly a second.

Pitts jumped out to an early lead thanks to her school-record 12.48m leap and held on for silver after OVC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year Jatavia Wright from SIU Edwardsville hit the 13.00m mark for the win. Jones continued her assault on the Austin Peay record books, breaking the 400m indoor mark with a 55.27 to earn silver in the event.

Junior Erika Adams broke her tie with Sherlonda Johnson's 2006 mark in the 55m dash, placing second in the event with an even 7.00 mark. In the final event Jones, Adams, Kymmalett Ross and Maikea Davis could have coasted to a point-scoring finish but instead, they hammered the school-record with a 3:48.20 mark to earn silver and cap a remarkable weekend in the annals of Austin Peay track.

After a strong indoor performance, the Lady Govs truly shined at the Outdoor Championships in Edwardsville, Illinois. Earning points in 12 of 14 events on the final day of competition, the Lady Govs earned runner-up honors with 133.5 points, just 7.5 behind champion Southeast Missouri.

Jones earned her first gold in the 400m dash with a 54.08 run, while she, Ross, Davis and freshman Terri Morris teamed up to beat the previous OVC record with a 45.28 run but could not overcome Tennessee State, settling for the silver medal.

Adams (silver, 100m dash), Davis (bronze, 200m dash), Hudson (bronze, 1500m run), junior Jessica Gray (bronze, 800m run) and freshmen Myiah Johnson (bronze, 100m hurdles) and Brianna Kelly (silver, high jump) each brought home medals for Austin Peay.

In the day's final event, Gray had to step in for a hobbled Ross in the 4x400m relay. However, the Lady Govs still earned silver in the event thanks to a season-best 3:41.21 mark. The medal gave each of the Jones-Davis-Gray-Morris quartet multiple medals for their efforts this weekend.

Previous 2013-14 Top 10 Items:
July 7 - Stansfield and Siliva earn Academic All-American honors
July 8 - Henderson earns USA Volleyball tryout
July 9 - Branding ushers APSU into new era
July 10 - APSU quartet leave mark
July 11 - Robles shines all over the diamond
July 14 - Iten's Historic Season