JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Austin Peay State University's track & field team posted its best finish and highest point total at an Atlantic Sun Conference Track & Field Championship, earning a third-place finish as a team with 104 points. Additionally, on the final day of the event, the Govs posted five podium finishes and won the 4x400-meter relay, Saturday, at Hodges Stadium.
The Governors quartet of Mia McGee, Taylin Segree, Alexis Arnett, and Mariah Mitchem closed the night with a 3:37.60 mark in the 4x400-meter relay, just a hundredth of a second off the program record and claiming the Govs second gold medal of the championship.
In the first event of the day, China Giaimo posted a personal best in the discus. Heading to the field, Emmani Roberts earned bronze in the triple jump with a personal best of 12.09, besting her career-high by one centimeter, which she set at the Tennessee Invitational last month. Madelyn Kocik and Denim Goddard also earned the Govs points in the event, with Goddard also setting a personal best in the event. In the Govs' final event in the field, Amani Sharif set a personal best in the javelin.
On the track to begin the later afternoon, APSU's 4x100-meter relay team of Seven Pettus, Isis Banks, Mitchem, and Mallory Hodge earned the silver medal, with the group's time of 44.85 breaking the previous record of 45.28, which had been the record since 2014.
Hallie Mattingly then set a personal best in the 1,500, with her time coming in nearly eight seconds faster than her previous PR set earlier this month at Vanderbilt's Outdoor Music City Challenge.
Molly Brown and Roberts then both earned points for the Govs and finished in the top seven in the 100-meter hurdles.
Segree, McGee, and Mitchem then accounted for points in the 400-meter dash. Later, Hodge – who broke the program record in the 100-meter dash yesterday – finished fourth in the event with the second-fastest time of her career, and in as many days, at 11.50.
After posting a 2:12.49 time in the 800-meter in the preliminary round of the 800-meter, Laure Marie Kidukula posted a 2:10.11 in the finals to earn silver in the event. Her time was less than four-tenths of a second off her career best, set at the Outdoor Music Challenge. Taylah Upshaw also earned the Govs a trio of points in the event with her sixth-place finish.
For the second time on the day, Hodge earned a podium finish, this time in the 200-meter dash with a bronze medal. Isis Banks also tallied a point for the Govs in the event.
Lastly, the Govs earned gold in the aforementioned 4x400-meter relay, with the 3:37.60 time ranking second in the record books trailing only a 3:37.59 time from 2002.
Austin Peay finished the ASUN Outdoor Championship with seven medals – two gold, two silver, and three bronze. The Govs' 104 points also are their most as a member of the ASUN Conference, surpassing the 84 points during the ASUN Indoor Championships in February.
