Three school records fall as Tech places eighth at OVC Championship
May 3, 2009

Three school records fall as Tech places eighth at OVC Championship

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Tennessee Tech runners set three school records on the way to an eighth place team finish at the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Track & Field Championships hosted by Eastern Kentucky University.

RICHMOND, Ky. – Junior Tiffany Palmer captured second place in the longest event of the weekend, the 10,000-meter run, and Tennessee Tech runners set three school records on the way to an eighth place team finish at the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Track & Field Championships hosted by Eastern Kentucky University.

Palmer finished second in the time of 38:24.84 during the final event Friday night, fighting a strong wind that blew through the EKU stadium throughout the day. She was just three seconds behind the leader, earning eight of Tech’s 28.5 points in the meet.

Allison Price set two school records during prelims Friday, and Meagan Lyons established a third, as both became the first Tech sprinters to advance to the OVC Finals.

Price posted a 58.64 in the 400-meter dash, breaking the previous school record of 58.91 set in 2002 by Brelinda Johnson. On Saturday, Price couldn’t match that time, and finished eighth in 1:02.89.

The former starting point guard for the Golden Eagle women’s basketball team, Price raced to a time of 25.28 in the 200-meter dash later in the day Friday, finishing 13th in the prelims. That time narrowly eclipsed the previous school record of 28:32 set in 2004 by Bethany Burney.

Lyons, who also started four years on the women’s basketball team, was fifth in the qualifying race of the 100-meter hurdles Friday with a school-record time of 14.33 seconds. That was just over a half-second better than Carmen Tucker’s 2001 school mark of 14.85. In Saturday’s finals, Lyons finished eighth in 15.67.

Coach Tony Cox saw his team earn points in several other events, including two by senior middle-distance runner Keri Light in the final action of her record-setting career. Light finished seventh in the 5,000-meter run in 18:1214, earning two points in the team standings. Earlier in the day, she was sixth in the 1,500-meter run to earn three points, posting a time of 4:43.9.

Light narrowly missed qualifying for the finals in the 800-meter run, placing ninth in2:20.06.

Ashley Evans, the only other senior in the competition for the Golden Eagles, earned a point with her eighth place showing in the 10,000-meter run.

Tech earned points in three field events, with sophomore Ashley Mayhew scoring in the shot put, junior Rachel Forbes chalking up points in the javelin, and Lyons scoring in the high jump.

Mayhew placed seventh in the shot put with a toss of 40-feet, 11 inches. Forbes claimed sixth place in the javelin with a throw of 110-feet, 6-inches, earning three points for the Golden Eagles. Lyons cleared 5-feet, 2.25 inches for a seventh place showing in the high jump and 1.5 points. A pair of Cookevillians, Katherine Lynn and Sarah Kmet, were just behind, tying for ninth place in the high jump.