Austin Peay State University Athletics

Sophomore sprinter Kenisha Phillips, of the Austin Peay State University track and field team, has been named this week’s Austin Peay Athlete of the Week.

Phillips got the Vanderbilt Black and Gold started with a win in the 200-meter dash Friday night, posting a 23.93 mark to dust the field by more than three-tenths of a second. She followed that up with a runner-up finish in Saturday's 100-meter dash, dueling Murray State's Kenia Seals to the final step in a tight race that narrowly went the Racers way by less than five-hundredths of a second.

The Georgetown, Guyana native closed the event by running the second leg of the 4x400-meter relay, helping the Govs post an eighth-place, 3:58.59 mark to end Saturday’s proceedings. She’s now won three events (two 200-meter dashes and one 400-meter dash) during outdoor season.

Other notable performances by Austin Peay athletes included:

• Redshirt freshman Jana Leder, of the women’s tennis team, was unbeaten in singles and doubles last week, taking down Belmont’s Erin Allen (6-3, 6-1) in straight sets and rallying from a first-set loss with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles against Murray State’s Sarah Bureau.
• Redshirt sophomore pitcher Luke Brown, of the baseball team, tossed the first complete game by a Gov since 2019 in Austin Peay’s 8-1 win against UT Martin, Friday. He scattered five hits and one earned run while striking out four and walking none.
• Junior Shelby Darnell, of the women’s golf team, posted her first career top-10 finish in Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championship play, tying for seventh with a 221 (73-73-75); she was the No. 3 scorer in the entire tournament on par-4 holes (4.03 strokes per hole) and opened the final round with 13 consecutive pars.
• Freshman pitcher Jordan Benefiel, of the softball team, tossed a three-hit shutout against Tennessee State, striking out eight and walking none, then followed that up with a save in the series finale against the Tigers with two scoreless innings to combine with Shelby Harpe for a shutout.
• Senior duo Brooke Moore and Jenna Panning, of the beach volleyball team, went 5-1 as a pair last week, with wins against UT Martin (21-15, 25-23), UT Martin again (21-15, 21-10), Eastern Kentucky (21-8, 21-11), Morehead State (19-21, 21-16, 15-13) and Jacksonville State (21-18, 21-16).