The women’s track and field team will be competing in the Ole Miss Invitational this Saturday and Sunday in Oxford, Miss., at the Ole Miss Track and Field Stadium. This will be the team’s third meet of the season, following the Alabama Relays at home and the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla.
Head coach Sandy Fowler said she is happy the way the team has started off the season.
“I’m proud of the team,” Fowler said. “I know that a couple of people have done extremely well. I know that we are way ahead of some of our times, distances and heights than we were at this time last year. That’s good indication that we’re going to be able to do extremely well come the middle of May at the [SEC Championships].”
The team started off the season with the women setting personal bests at the Alabama Relays. Fowler said the meet really got the season off to a great start.
“I have to say that Alabama Relays kind of set the flow for us because I remember we had either 15 or 16 personal bests,” Fowler said. “That was the first opportunity for us to put our relays together too.
Junior Kim Laing posted the eighth fastest 100 meter hurdle time in the nation. Freshman Elsbeth Denton set a personal best in the 800 meter, while freshman Wilamena Hopkins and sophomore Amethyst Holmes both set personal records in the shot put. Fowler said setting personal bests in the meet means doing your best in practice.
“You’ve got to be aggressive in the meet, and you’ve got to lay it out in the meet – you have to do the same thing in practice,” Fowler said. “That way, when you get to the meet, you won’t have a question. You know it’s going to be like just what you practiced.”
At the Florida Relays, junior Meghan Austin threw the javelin five feet farther than she had at the Alabama Relays.
The 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle relay team, which consisted of junior Audra Frimpong, Kim Laing, Talaya Owens, and Chealsea Taylor, improved their score from the Alabama Relays by a second.
Katlyn Will, Denton, Kelsey Johnson and Leigh Gilmore made up the 4×800 meter relay team, which improved its time from the Alabama Relays by 35 seconds. Fowler said she knows why the ladies have improved so much.
“I think that one thing that they’ve realized in order to compete in the SEC is that you’ve got to give it all you’ve got, whether it’s in practice or it’s in competition, and I think the big thing has been that if we make it happen in practice, then we’ll make it in competition.”
Fowler said the competition in the meet this weekend will be something worth watching.
“I think the competition is going to be very good. There’s a couple of SEC schools, I think about 30 or 35 other schools. I think the competition will be good.”
The meet will start this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and at noon on Sunday.
