Robinson, Brandt win individual titles, Tech scores most meet points in OVC Indoor history
Na'Asha Robinson and Sarah Brandt each won individual championships and helped the Tennessee Tech track & field team post its highest point total in history at the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships at Tennessee State.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – All season long, Na'Asha Robinson and Sarah Brandt, among others, have rewritten the Tennessee Tech track & field record book.
On Saturday, the two helped the Golden Eagles rewrite history entirely.
Each won an individual championship, and the Golden Eagles earned the most points ever at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships, held at Tennessee State's Gentry Center.
Robinson became the first Tech runner to win the 400-meter dash and Brandt claimed the school's first 800-meter championship. Tech scored 49 points in the meet, which was won by host Tennessee State. The previous high point total by a Golden Eagle team at the OVC Indoor meet was 37 in 2010.
" We were tenacious and competed with pride today," said Golden Eagle head coach Wayne Angel. "Tennessee Tech is a team that is significant now, we earned the respect of the OVC.
"Our ladies stepped up when it counted, unfortunately we ran out of bullets," Angel said. "We look forward to outdoors now, we will be a much stronger team."
TSU piled up 124 points to win the team title, easily topping runnerup Eastern Illinois with 99. Eastern Kntucky (74) was third, followed by Murray State (68), Austin Peay (63), Southeast Missouri (56), SIUE (53), Tech (49) Jacksonville State (47) and Belmont (30).
Heading into the second with five points, Tech added quickly to the scoreboard when Robinson ran ahead of the field to win the championship at 400m. Her time of 54.47 seconds edged SIUE sprinter Jessica Oranika (54.77) and put 10 points on the scoreboard for Tech. Golden Eagle freshman Crystal Leibenberg finished sixth in 57.27 for a personal-best time and three points.
Tech's total jumped to 20 points when freshman Raven Smith soared a school record 39 feet, 3 inches in the triple jump. Her effort placed seventh and earned two points for Tech's team total.
The 800m was where Tech scored its biggest total, as Brandt and freshman D'Airrien Jackson placed first and second. Brandt narrowly missed breaking her own school record, finishing in 2:11.68 while Jackson was just over her shoulder in 2:12.19 for second place.
Robinson was back on the track in no time, and finished fourth in the 200-meter dash in 24.47 to smash another school record. That effort added five points to Tech's score.
"Sarah and Na'Asha were awesome today," Angel said. "I am so proud of them."
The Golden Eagles had two runners in the 3,000-meter run. Purity Murray posted a time of 10:51.01 while Sonel Bezuidenhout clocked in at 11:04.39.
The final event of the meet saw the Golden Eagles break one more school record. The 4x400m relay team of Robinson, Jackson, Leibenberg and Tiara Hymon placed third in record time of 3:46.76, placing the final six points in Tech's scoring column.
In the men's division, Eastern Illinois (130) captured a narrow victory over Tennessee State (128.5), with Southeast Missouri (110) third. They were followed by Eastern Kentucky (99), SIUE (87) and Belmont (63.50).
The Golden Eagle track & field team now turns it attention to the outdoor season, which is a full month away. The team will open the outdoor schedule March 25-26 at the Vanderbilt Invitational.
