MURRAY, Ky. - Austin Peay State University
women's track and field team finished sixth at the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference
Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Saturday, at Murray State's Roy Stewart
Stadium.
Eastern Illinois' women took home their
second-straight outdoor championship with 185 points, followed closely by Southeast
Missouri at 181. There was distance between second and third, as Eastern
Kentucky managed 136 points and Jacksonville State was at 106.5, in third and
fourth, respectively. Murray State (48), Austin Peay (44), Tennessee State
(34.5), Tennessee Tech (25) and Morehead State (16) rounded out the field.
While the Lady Govs improved one position
after the final day, it was not enough to overcome the injuries and lack of
depth that plagued the team. Senior Courtney Jordan earned Austin Peay's only
medal with a third-place finish in the javelin.
"I can't say enough about the effort Courtney
has put in," head coach Doug Molnar said. "She's worked hard her entire career
and to get on the medal stand as a senior makes it all worth it. She had a
great throw today and it was big in helping us climb out.
Austin Peay needed a strong day in the
distance and field events in order to make up for missing out on the finals in the
100- and 200-meter dashes. Without three-time medalist senior Chiamaka Obi, the
Lady Govs found themselves in an early hole which was tough to dig out.
"We buried ourselves pretty good on the first
day and we knew it was going to be tough to get out," head coach Doug Molnar
said. "We came back and had a decent day, but it just wasn't enough."
The relay teams looked to set the pace for
the day, as the 4x100 team finished fourth (49.29) for five points. Candace Cullors ran the lead, followed by Jasmine Moody and Leigha Tolliver with
Cenitra Hudson as the anchor. From there, Alxy Pinkston earned three points
with a sixth-place 400-meter finish (58.51).
Xiamar Richards and Latoya Monger each
finished eighth in the 1500-meter (4:53.85) and the 100-meter hurdles (15.27), respectively.
Ashley Carson also finished eighth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:07.18) and
Zakiya Alcantara was eighth in the pole vault.
Austin Peay had two scorers in the triple
jump. Hudson took fourth with a 11.28m jump and Tolliver was behind her in
fifth at 11.10m. The final relay - the 4x400-meter - saw Jasmin Scott, Taelor Slaughter, Shannon Christian and Pinkston finish fifth with a time of 3:58.21.
-AP-
