By: KSU Sports Information
Full Results
ATLANTA, Ga. - The Kennesaw State men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Georgia Tech for the Yellow Jacket Invitational Friday and Saturday, setting multiple personal records and four new team records over the two day meet.
“I think they definitely tried hard coming off a week of hard training,” said head coach Andy Eggerth of his team’s performance. “We’re just starting to taper down towards conference, so we had a high training week. But we still accomplished a lot here today with four school records.”
Friday evening, junior thrower Suzee Mills set a new team record in the hammer throw, winning the event with a mark of 52.76 meters. Teammates Shannon Hooper and Joyce Smith took second and fourth, respectively, both achieving PR’s in this event for the Owls. Mills would go on to place second in the javelin on Saturday, out-throwing athletes from ACC and SEC schools.
“I’m glad to see the hard work is paying off,” said assistant coach Duane Morris of Friday’s events. “All of the throwers had a solid start to this Invite.”
Redshirt freshman Kentrell White set the pace for the women on Saturday with a second place finish in the 100 meter dash. Her time of 11.93 seconds on a rerun broke the previous school record of 12.01 seconds previously held by Victoria Jackson. Her teammate Cynthia Davis placed third with her time of 12.03 seconds, a new PR for her. Jackson rounded out the top five finishers in the 100 meters just two one-hundredths behind David.
White posted her second individual school record of the day in the 200 meter dash. Her 24.21 second time bested her previous record by over a tenth of a second from last weekend’s Georgia Relays.
“I’m really proud of what we did here today,” said White of her and her team’s performance. “I think the rerun [in the 100 meters] really helped me correct what I did wrong the first time around. My goal is always to just run faster ever time and try to come out on top.”
White and Davis would return at the end of the meet with #De’Coshia Boswell and Brittany Robinson# for the 4 x 400 meter relay to close out the Yellow Jacket Invitational. Their time of 3:47.94 seconds edged out Middle Tennessee State and a third Black and Gold outdoor record by six one-hundredths of a second, set at last years A-Sun Championships.
Gwennetta Jones found success in the shot put with her second to last throw being marked at 12.74 meters, taking out Atlantic Sun conference foe Jasmine Foseter of East Tennessee State for third place overall.
“I felt pretty relaxed during hammer,” said Mills of her weekend. “The rain on Friday was a downer, but I think that helped us all take a step back and just let it all happen. Javelin and discus were consistent to what I’ve been doing, so I’m hopeful for some wins going into next week and also A-Sun Championships.”
For the men, Brian Graham lead the Owls in the 110 meter hurdles, placing third overall with a new PR of 14.50 seconds, improving on his time from three weeks earlier. Graham returned in the 400 meter hurdles to place seventh overall with teammate Kendall Parks taking fifth place with his time of 53.82 seconds. Parks improved his time from last week’s Georgia Relays by almost two seconds.
Andre Dorsey also scored third place points for Kennesaw State with his 54.54 meter javelin throw. Dorsey’s mark is just 2 meters shy of his own record set at the UNF North Florida Invitational.
“I know I can run a lot faster because I had a great kick at the end,” said Parks of his 400 meter hurdle race. “I was really proud of it. Hopefully I can a 52 at conference in a few weeks and qualify for NCAA Regionals in both the 110 and 400 meter hurdles. I really want to represent Kennesaw State on a national level.”
In the field events, the Owl duo of #Hendrik Themas and Brandon Dwyer# continued to better their achievable heights from the Georgia Relays. Themas and Dwyer took second and third for Kennesaw State, both cleanly passing 4.55 meters. Redshirt sophomore Casey Reynolds found his rhythm early on Friday with his best hammer of this season with Friday’s mark of 48.68 meters, while fellow Owl Reggie Lewis overtook Virginia Tech’s Scott Campbell for fourth in the long jump. Lewis’s measurement of 6.96 meters is his best so far this outdoor season.
“Last year, we really didn’t perform well until the conference meet, so we’re just starting to back off,” said Eggerth. “ETSU and JU are looking strong this season, but we’ll be ready and hopeful for conference. We’re just trying to be consistent in approaches, strides and throws until then.”
The Owls will look ahead to next weekend’s Tiger Track Classic in Auburn Ala. April 6-7. This will be the last meet for the Black and Gold to find their consistency before the Atlantic Sun Championships April 20-21. For live updates on the Tiger Track Classic, be sure to follow @KSUTrackFieldXC.
The men's and women's track and field teams broke four school records in Atlanta over the weekend as they start to prepare for the Atlantic Sun Championship later this month.
