Track and field competes in first indoor event of season
The Golden Eagle track team scored multiple personal best finishes at the 34th annual Niswonger Foundation Invitational.
The competition was held inside the East Tennessee State University Athletic Center Jan. 27-28. The two-day event was the first indoor race of the season for Tech.
Tech’s Emily Weinzetl placed 14th in the 800-meter race with a time of 2 minutes, 30.22 seconds, followed closely by Golden Eagle Leah Bradley at 2:30.38. Bradley’s performance was enough to secure her 16th place and a career best record for that event.
“I was very satisfied with my performance,” Bradley said. “Although there was some miscommunication between the officials and our athletes, I believe our Distance Medley Relay has great potential. Overall it was a good first meet and a definite learning experience.”
Along with a personal best record in the 800-meter, Bradley beat her previous record in the indoor mile by running a time of 5:38.19. This was an improvement of four seconds from her old personal record.
Tech sophomore Meghan O’Donoghue completed the 5,000-meter run in 20:22.06, a personal best over her previous time of 20:25.80.
In the field events, Golden Eagle junior Lacy Yslas threw for an indoor career best in the shot put with a distance of 36 feet, 4 3/4 inches. This was her first time competing since the Niswonger Invitational in 2010.
The team’s next race will be the Tiger Invitational at Sewanee on Feb. 3-4.
Women’s basketball goes on the road after overtime loss
The Golden Eagle women’s basketball team (10-14, 6-4) will hit the road this weekend for a conference battle with Jacksonville State (4-19, 1-9) Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be the first of a three game road trip.
Tech is coming off a heartbreaking 64-62 loss in overtime to SIU-Edwardsville on Wednesday night in the Hooper Eblen Center.
“I thought our players competed hard for 30 minutes but, unfortunately, the game is 40 minutes long,” head coach Sytia Messer said. “Sadly, the outcome was not in our favor.”
The Golden Eagles were led by sophomore guard Jala Harris who scored 14 points along with five rebounds and five assists. Senior guard Tacarra Hayes added 12 points along with three boards and senior Brittany Darling contributed eight points and eight rebounds.
Other scorers included sophomore Molly Heady with nine, Kellie Cook and Brianna Jordan each with six, Rachel Glidden with five and Krystal Stirrup with two.
“We’re going to bounce back well by having good practices,” Messer said. “We are going to take it one game at a time and play our best basketball when it comes OVC tournament time.”
Jacksonville State is also coming off a loss to SIU-Edwardsville, their fourth in a row.
Saturday will mark the second meeting between the conference foes this season. The Golden Eagles topped the Gamecocks 65-59 in a Jan. 23 game at the Eblen Center.
Tech will return home on Feb. 13 to host the OVC leading Eastern Illinois Panthers.
Tennis looks for quick start to the season
A new season for Tech sports has begun and Tech’s tennis team has their goals set high for this season and is ready to set out and make it happen.
Justin Kirstein, Tech tennis player and senior, has a good outlook for the tennis team’s season. “I think we have a great team with a mixture of experience and young talent,” Kirstein said. “We prepare each match as it comes. Our team is much stronger than last year with an addition of three new players.”
Every season a team will set specific goals to accomplish. Kirstein said, “Winning the OVC is our main goal.”
As a senior this means there is one last shot to accomplish such championship goals. Kirstein said, “It’s my last semester, so hopefully I can graduate with a degree in one hand and a championship ring in the other.”
Tech plays at Elon University today, Feb. 3, and their next home match will be against Gardner Webb, Saturday, Feb. 11.
