Records broken, spirits golden for track

Troy’s track and field team traveled to Clemson, South Carolina last weekend to compete in the Orange & Purple Invitational following a successful showing at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational.  

During the events, the Trojans continued to break many personal, season and program records.  

Ethan Forbes, who broke the school record for the men’s indoor 800m event last week, took first place. His final time for the event was 1:50.11, annihilating his previous record of 1:52.96, marking an almost three-second improvement. 

Troy Athletics photo

Zoe Smith races in the 4x400m relay at the Orange and Purple Invitational.

In the men’s 1,000m event, Pierre Boerkey finished in sixth place with a time of 2:28.87, which is the second fastest time in school history. 

During the men’s 60m event, Travis Massey placed third place overall in the final round with a time of 6.82. Massey ran 6.85 in preliminary heats and 6.80 in the semifinals in order to qualify for the finals. 

Michael Eady, Tydreke Thomas and Kendrick Price qualified for the semifinal round as well with times of 6.85, 6.94 and 6.99 respectively. 

The women’s side starts off with Rachel Whyte, who continues to triumph with a time of 7.55 during the women’s 60m event to qualify for the semifinal round. When the day ended, she had a personal best time of 7.50, which happens to be the third fastest time in program history. 

Whyte, Kady Schwietz, Haley Wilson and Zoe Smith finished sixth in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:47.64, a season record. 

During the women’s pentathlon, Kady Schwietz broke or equaled season records in two portions of the event. In the women’s high jump portion, she marked 1.55m. During the long jump event, she jumped 5.42m, which equaled the season best. Schwietz finished fifth overall in the pentathlon. 

The Trojans plan to travel back to Clemson on the Jan. 30 to compete in the Bob Pollock invitational, which runs through the Jan. 31.