Greg Rossino

Sports Co-Editor

This past weekend in the Auburn Springtime Invitational, in a field of 20 other colleges, two Troy women out-ran and out-threw everyone else.
Junior Tawanna Meadows led the way with her legs.
Meadows won the 100-meter dash with a blistering time of 11.77 seconds, one of her fastest times ever.
Not soon afterwards, Meadows finished in sixth place in a field of 40 other runners in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.53 seconds.
Sophomore Tiphanie Baker led the way with her arms with another outstanding meet in the discus events.
The sophomore broke the school record for throwing distance for the third time in as many outings, after a throw that 149 feet, six inches.
The throw gave her a fourth-place finish.
Director of Track, coach Bob Lambert has been very pleased with how well both Meadows and Baker have performed this season.
“Two of the most consistent top performers this year so far have been Tawanna Meadows in sprints and relays and Tiphanie Baker in the discus,” Lambert said.
For the men, reigning Sun Belt shot put champion Michael Heck showed signs of last year’s form as he finished in fifth-place after a toss of 52 feet, 11 inches.
Heck’s throw was an improvement from the UGA meet by more than two feet.
Heck’s teammates also had strong performances in Auburn.
Senior Ryan Baker and sophomore Norman Austin both finished in the top five in the hammer and javelin throws.
Baker, with a 159-foot, two-inch toss, earned a fourth-place finish while Austin had a toss of 192 feet, four inches, just missing first place by two feet.
This upcoming weekend, Troy will play host to the Troy “Coach O” Invitational.
The meet will begin this Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at the Jesse H. Colley Track.
There will be eight schools competing in what will be Troy’s only home action of the season.
Coach Lambert believes there is a lot to look forward to this weekend at the meet, including the track debut of some basketball stars
“I’m looking for our throwers, sprinters, horizontal jumpers and relay teams to shine,” Lambert said.
“It will be the debut of O’Darien Bassett in the long and triple jumps,” Lambert said. “OD, coming off of a long basketball season, was the Georgia high school state champion three years ago in these events and could really help us out. Richard Chaney will also be competing in the high and long jumps for us.”
Lambert continued by talking about some of the athletes who will be returning as well as competing for the NCAAs.
“The return of alumnus Mike Acree in the long and triple jump will make it interesting as Mike Nichols is really starting to come on strong in both events,” Lambert said. “Monique Johnson is about ready to bust a great hurdle time, as is Tawanna Meadows in the 100 meters. Juzil Rudolph is also getting close to NCAA qualifying in the long jump.”
However, when it comes to preparing for the conference championships in Lafayette, La., Lambert believes there is always room for improvement.
“We aren’t even close to being ready for conference, and with it still six weeks away, that’s not a bad thing,” Lamber said. “We have a lot of work to do before returning to Lafayette the second weekend in May. It’s the job of the coaching staff to have them ready by then, that’s where we get our report card. So, we don’t want to peak too early.”