Going the distance: Evans competing in grueling schedule at OVC meet
Ashley Evans will run in the three most demanding races of the weekend when Tech hosts the OVC Track & Field Championships Friday and Saturday. Evans will run the 3,000-meter steeplechase, plus the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs, the only person entered in all three distances.
Story by Thomas Corhern, Cookeville
Herald-Citizen
COOKEVILLE — Grit and determination go a long way.
For Tennessee Tech track and field athlete Ashley Evans, a
graduate student from Jackson, that saying rings true. Evans will
take part in the three most grueling events of this weekend’s
Ohio Valley Conference track and field championships at Tucker
Stadium, the first time Tennessee Tech has hosted the championships
since 1978.
“Ashley’s been a very productive member of this
team,” said Tech coach Tony Cox. “She’s run a lot
of miles for us. With the events she’s in, she should be
pretty tired by the end of the weekend.”
Evans will compete in the 5,000-meter run, the 10,000-meter run
and, for the first time in the program’s history, the
3,000-meter steeplechase, one of the most intriguing events of the
championships.
"The steeplechase is seven-and-a-half laps around the track," Evans
said. "You have barriers you have to jump over, including one water
pit."
But just the sheer length of those events would, for most runners,
seem pretty daunting.
"I've never been afraid to try new things," Evans said. "The
steeplechase, to me, is really fun. The 10,000 is where I really
like to push myself and run the best time I can."
Cox added, "It really is some of the toughest events. You really
have to prepare mentally as well as physically, get good nutrition
between the events and things like that."
The steeplechase is considered one of the hardest events in the
sport.
"Definitely," Evans said. "It takes a lot of guts. You can't be
afraid to jump in any situation."
click here to read the entire story at
herald-citizen.com
