Track and field starts indoor season in Birmingham

The Troy men’s and women’s track teams opened the 2017 indoor season with a strong performance at the UAB Vulcan Invitational in Birmingham.

Many Trojans set personal records on Saturday, highlighted by Hakim Montgomery’s first place finish in the 60m dash with a time of 6.66 seconds. Along with Montgomery’s career best, several other Trojans advanced to the finals in their respective competitions.

“We had many good performances today, highlighted by Hakim’s extraordinary performance in the 60m dash,” Troy Head Coach March Davis said. “We had many finalists today, and if we are going to continue to be successful, we have to continue to step up and qualify individuals for finals week after week to score points.”

Garrison Ford and Myles Charley had strong performances in the men’s long jump, as both advanced to the finals with jumps of 6.60 and 6.89 meters, respectively. In the triple jump, Isaac Jennings also advanced to the finals after nearly reaching his personal best with a 14.53-meter jump. Continuing the trend of personal bests, Caleb Brown captured a fourth place finish in the weight throw with a 16.61-meter toss. Daniel Glick capped off the highlights of the men’s performances with a third place finish in the 3,000 meter run with a new personal record time of 8:48.57.

Highlighting the women’s team was Niata Alexander’s 57.00 time and second place finish in the 400m dash. Following up Alexander’s performance in the same event was Adriana Williams in 16th place, as she finished with a time of 59:47.

Continuing the Trojan women’s strong showing in the 60m dash was Briyana Carter, who used a time of 7.83 in the finals of her event to earn seventh place.

Gemma Finch continued the trend of setting new personal records, posting a time of 2:17.64 in the 800m run. Finch was also the highest-placing Trojan in the event, and finished in sixth place out of a field of 50 runners.

The Trojans will prepare to hit the track again for the Bill Pollack Invitational on January 27. The two-day, indoor meet will be hosted by Clemson in Clemson, South Carolina.