February 13, 2015

Golden Eagles go through final OVC tuneup with outing in Birmingham

In its final tune-up before the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships later this month, the Tennessee Tech track & field team recoded eight more personal-best performances and narrowly missed a school record this weekend at the Samford Invitational.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In its final tune-up before the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships later this month, the Tennessee Tech track & field team recoded eight more personal-best performances and narrowly missed a school record this weekend at the Samford Invitational.

Competing in the Birmingham Crossplex (site of the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships) for the third time this season, the Golden Eagles marked down seven PRs in running events and one in the long jump. Atlanta West and Brittany McGee each posted two individual bests, while Chelsea Mills, Tiara Hymon, Sonel Bezuidenhout (in photo above) and Kathie O'Neill each notched one personal best.

The first PR came on Friday night when Westbrook ran a 26.61 in the 200-meter dash. That time was the second-fastest for Tech in the event, as Kimball ran a 26.54 to pace the team. Hymon was close behind in 26.92.

Westbrook added her second PR Saturday in the long jump when she landed at 16 fete, 9.25 inches.

Mills, who is prepping to compete in the pentathlon at the OVC meet, ran her best in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.97 seconds.

Hymon and McGee each had PRs in the 60-meter dash. Hymon sprinted the distance in 8.11 seconds while McGee managed to cross the line in 8.27.

Kimball raised eyebrows when she ran a 59.79 in the 400-meter dash. While it wasn't her personal best, it was within .45 of the school record. McGee did PR in that event in 1:05.16.

Bezuidenhout's PR came in the 3,000-meter run when she clocked in at 10:57.62.

The final PR fell in the 800-meter run, when Kathie O'Neill ran a 2:30.76.

Tech's individual performances:

200m
Brooklyn Kimball 26.54
Atlanta Westbrook 26.61
Tiara Hymon 26.92

Long Jump
Atlanta Westbrook 16-09.25

Shot Put
Ashley Lowe 31-06.00
Makayla Kington 33-02.50

60m Hurdles
Chelsea Mills 9.97

60m
Tiara Hymon 8.11
Brooklyn Kimball 8.24
Brittany McGee 8.27

400m
Brooklyn Kimball 59.79
Kalya Turange 1:04.88
Brittany McGee 1:05.16

3,000
Sonel Bezuidenhout 10:57.62
Baylee Balgemann 11:53.29
Lera McNamara 12:09.00