Tops finish weekend with career-best times

WKU sprinter Vincent Wyatt runs the last leg in the men’s 4×400 meter relay during the Hilltopper Relay April 09, 2016 at Charles M. Rueter Track and Field Complex in Bowling Green, Ky. The Hilltoppers finished 6th with the time of 3:36.35. Shaba Athuman/HERALD

Bailey Townsend

This weekend, the WKU Track and Field competed in the Mt. Sac Relays in California as well as Austin Peay State University Invitational in Tennessee, both of which led to success for the Hilltoppers.

WKU turned in 21 top-10 showings over the two weekend events. This weekend also gave the opportunity for many of the athletes to qualify for the NCAA Preliminary Round Championship.

Beginning with the Mt. Sac Relays, the event was full of big finishes and career-best times for the Tops.

Sophomore Julius Morris placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.29 and seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.7.

Both of these times led to career-best efforts for Morris as well as ranking Morris in the top 25 nationally for both events.

Juniors Emmanuel Dasor and Kyree King also performed strongly this weekend, both placing in the top 20. Dasor finished ninth in the 200-meter dash and King placed No. 19 in the 100-meter event after a career-best time of 10.43 seconds.

The Hilltoppers had a strong performance at the hurdles, with sophomore Jonathan Hayden and senior Vincent Wyatt finishing in the top 15. Wyatt also got his best time ever as a Hilltopper with a time of 13.95 seconds in the 110-invite hurdles.

Both of WKU men’s relay teams recorded top-10 finishes as well. The 4×100 relay team placed sixth with a time of 39.66, while the 4×400 A Team placed fourth with 3:09.35. The 4×100 team currently leads Conference USA and ranks No. 12 nationally.

The Lady Toppers were also  successful at the Mt. Sac Relays this weekend.

Junior Sandra Akachukwu led the Track and Field team with the best finish of the meet, placing second in the high jump with 1.70 meters.

Freshman Jadzia Beasley had a career-high time in the 100-meter event, finishing with 11.38 seconds.

According to head coach Erick Jenkins, this time was her lifetime best and also moves her to the second-best time for that event in WKU history.

While some of the team was in California for this event, others were at Austin Peay State University to compete in their invitational.

Freshman Keenan Lane had a career best jump with 2.20 meters at the invitational, while redshirt junior Corey Parks finished first in the 100-meter and also clocked in two season-best times.

For the Lady Toppers, two of them earned top-five finishes. Freshman Morgan McIntyre placed second in pole vault and  Getter Lemberg who placed fourth in the same event.

“We need to be more aggressive and disciplined in the relays. I believe we have the potential to be very good,” Jenkins said. “We have made progress in most of our open events and I expect positive results as we move forward. We have a good group of student athletes and we can be successful in every event group.”

The WKU Track and Field team will be back in action next weekend as they compete in the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational and also the Virginia Challenge at the University of Virginia.