Troy track teams compete at Camel City Invitational

The Troy indoor track and field team competed in the Camel City Invitational over the weekend for its first meet outside of Birmingham this season.

On Friday, both the men and women’s teams traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to challenge the likes of Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina and Virginia Tech, among others.

The two-day event was the men’s team’s first competitive meet since Jan. 12.

On opening day, the women’s team started strong as freshmen Madison Kennedy and Precious Ogba along with senior Niata Alexander made the top ten in the women’s 400-meter run.

Alexander ran a 56.27-second sixth-place finish, and Kennedy and Ogba finished behind her with a clocked-in time of 57.10 and 56.70 seconds respectively.

A three-second difference was all that separated a tenth-place finish from a 30th.

Titus Sizemore impressed onlookers in the men’s high jump. Sizemore cleared 2.05 meters in the finals, which was good enough for fifth place.

Troy came back on day two with similar success.

Junior Hakim Montgomery did not miss a beat after not running in competition for three weeks.

Montgomery finished in first place with a total time of 6.64 seconds. In the preliminary, Montgomery ran a 6.70, still the fastest time in the meet. He has not lost a 60-meter dash since 2016.

The Trojans had a successful day in the 60-meter hurdles on both teams. Camille Franks and Alexis Garret, both underclassmen, finished ninth and tenth with 8.71 and 8.76 seconds times, respectively.

For the men, sophomore Casimir Tawiah finished with a time of 8.22 seconds, which put him in sixth place.

This was the first and only match of the year that did not take place in Birmingham. Troy has one final meet left on its indoor season schedule before the Sunbelt Conference Indoor Championships.

Next week, both the men and women’s teams will take part in the Samford Open as it unfolds on Feb. 9-10.