RUSTON--The Louisiana Tech Track and Field team showed they belonged this weekend at the Alumni Gold Invitational in Baton Rouge, La. as they recorded eight regional qualifying marks while competing against some of the nation's best.
"We had a real solid day from both the men and the women," head coach Gary Stanley said. "We had a number of regional qualifying marks which will give us some good momentum heading into the prestigious Drake Relays next weekend in Des Moines, Iowa." Tech had a very impressive balanced day recording regional qualifying marks in sprints, hurdles, jumps, throws and relays. Among the regional qualifiers were throwers Nadia Alexander and Larry Jones. Alexander recorded a throw of 50' 10.75" in the shot put earning her a third place finish while Jones placed first out of the collegiate competitors in the discus with a personal best throw of 185' 4". Sophomore Quatisha Williams pitched in with a regional qualifying jump of 40' 7.50" in the triple jump while fellow sophomore Chasidee Lewis-Baker recorded a regional qualifying time in the 100 for the second straight week with a time of 11.67 seconds. Hurdlers Antoinette Cobb and Billy Walker also recorded regional qualifying times. Cobb's time of 13.63 seconds in the 100m hurdles earned a second place finish while Walker's time of 14.07 seconds was a season best and was good enough for fifth place. Both the 4X100 and 4X400 women's relay team finished with regional qualifying times. The 4X100 team's time of 45.59 seconds earned them fifth place while the 4X400 team ran a 3:39.30 to finish sixth.
Although they did not record regional qualifying marks, these Bulldogs still turned in solid performances at the meet. Brothers Kyle Davis and Nathan Davis finished fourth and fifth in the 3000m steeple chase with Kyle finishing fourth with a time of 10:03.75 and Nathan in fifth at 10:08.12. Jermaine Morris continues to have a successful freshman campaign as he finished second in the 800 with a time of 1:55.24. Jonathan Keys also earned a top five finish in the triple jump with a jump of 47' 10.50". Louisiana Tech will return to the track next weekend as they travel to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays.