BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky—Across the board, Austin Peay State University student-athletes not only held their own at the Hilltopper Relays; the Govs posted some of their season's best performances and raised their profile as one of the area's best squads.
After an abbreviated day Friday, the Govs arrived at Charles M. Reuter Track and Field Complex eager to impress and did just that, yielding multiple top-five finishes and personal-bests over the course of the day.
"Very successful day for us," head coach Doug Molnar summarized. "It was a workmanlike effort with personal-bests in every event group; it's the sign of a team coming together."
The Govs performed well in many events on Saturday, but it was the hurdles and short sprints where Austin Peay stood out the most. Sophomore Lennex Walker won the event with a 14.43 mark, picking up her second win in four outdoor meets this season, but she was hardly alone near the top of the standings. Sophomore Kamille Dunbar placed third with a 14.82 mark, her best-ever finish in the 100m hurdles.
Walker would later return with a fourth-place, personal-best 5.75m long jump mark, moving into third place among Ohio Valley Conference competitors. Maya Perry-Grimes also picked up a second-place finish in the triple jump with an 11.82m mark.
Freshman Kyra Wilder's personal-best 24.47 mark in the 200m dash not only won the event, it moved her into second place in the OVC; it's Wilder's second individual title as a Governor and first during outdoor season. Another freshman, Tiyanna Johnson, placed third with a personal-best 24.61 mark.
A pair of Govs posted runner-up honors in their respective track events. Junior Tymeitha Tolbert's 11.87 mark was part of a photo finish in the 100m dash, as she went step-for-step with Lindsey Wilson's Safia Bright in her season's best performance to date. Two weeks after breaking the 57-second mark for the first time in nearly a year, junior Amelia Thiesing's 56.12 mark in the 400m dash was a personal-best, while her runner-up finish marked her best career finish during an individual outdoor event.
Sophomore Keleah Shell posted a fifth-place finish in the 1500m run, posting a 5:02.36 that marked a third-place finish in the first heat. Continuing the middle-distance theme, freshman Madison Morstad's 2:17.94 mark placed her fourth in the 800m run.
Senior Nia Gibbs-Francis enjoyed a quality day across the board. In her specialty, the high jump, Gibbs-Francis posted a personal-best 1.70m mark, taking a share of third-place in the event and moving to within a quarter-inch of the OVC lead. She later won the fifth heat of the 400m hurdles, placing fifth overall with a 1:05.37 in her first-ever attempt at the event.
"Nia might've had the best day overall," Molnar said. "We found out she'll be a heck of a 400m hurdler in her first time doing it. But across the board, we had a lot of big days from a lot of people. Lot of people all over the place in the top-eight, which makes for a great day."
In the relays, myriad Austin Peay student-athletes stood out. Johnson, Wilder, Tolbert and Walker posted a blistering 46.86 in the 4x100m event, taking over the OVC lead in the event, while the 4x400m quartet of Thiesing, Wilder, Allana Johnson and Sabrina Richman won the event with a 3:49.68 run. A second Austin Peay foursome of Morstad, Molly Howard, Mikaela Smith and Jessica Kelley placed fourth at 4:00.58.
Next week heralds the annual home event, the 2019 APSU Invitational, which commences Friday at Fortera Stadium. The two-day event is open to the public.
