Personal bests pace outdoor track team

The Troy outdoor track and field team competed in the Alabama Track Challenge on Friday, bringing home eight overall event wins over some of the best competition in the state of Alabama.

Both the men’s and women’s teams lined up against athletes from Alabama, South Alabama, Miles and the hosting Samford Bulldogs. In its second outdoor meet of the season, Troy matched its performance from the Jaguar Classic a week prior, where the team also brought home eight top finishes.

“We are excited to get back into competition,” said Head Coach Marc Davis. “We had a solid opener on both sides, and we need to continue to develop.

“The rest of our schedule is tough. We set it up that way on purpose. If we, as a team, are going to take a big step forward, we have to be ready to compete at a high level every single week.

“As I said all of indoor season, this team is ready to make a big name for themselves. They just have to accept that and execute day in and day out.”

Troy saw a school record fall as Indiya Summerville heaved the women’s shot put 14.78 meters, which has never been done by a Trojan before. Summerville took first place in the event, narrowly edging South Alabama’s Antavia Fluker, who had a throw of 14.66 meters.

The Trojan throwers posted five of Troy’s eight wins, with two career-high performances as well. Titus Sizemore claimed the top spot in the men’s high jump with a leap of 2.10 meters.

Samford’s Keyth Fightmaster was the closest behind with a 1.95-meter jump. Michael Alvarez heaved a new personal best as well, taking the top spot in the men’s hammer throw with a 62.25-meter heave. Alvarez edged South Alabama’s Andrew Allen for the victory by 1.54 meters.

Connor Brookman launched the javelin 55.53 meters on his final throw of the day to earn the top spot in the men’s javelin.

Jaevyn Wortham picked up the final field victory for the Trojans as she won the women’s discus by 2.94 meters. Wortham’s throw measured 48.62 meters, while Samford’s Maggie Johnston’s throw measured only 45.68 meters.

Alexis Garett picked up the only sprint victory for Troy, narrowly edging multiple hurdlers in the 100-meter hurdles. Garrett’s 14.10-second run was good enough for first place.

Troy saw two of its distance runners bring home gold as Brennan Garriques and Mackenzie Walsh won the mile and the 3,000-meter run, respectively. Garriques clocked a 4:23.39 in the men’s mile, narrowly edging fellow Trojan Bradley Dixon with a time of 4:23.67. Walsh took home the win in the women’s 3,000-meter after timing out at 10:30.84.

The Troy outdoor track and field team now looks ahead to its next meet, the Florida Relays. The University of Florida is hosting the three-day event, inviting some of the nation’s top programs to compete. The action in Gainesville is set to begin Thursday.