FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A long day at the University of Arkansas Tyson Foods Invitational turned out to be one of the best in history of the Louisiana Tech track and field program as four school records were smashed and five marks were NCAA qualifying performances.
Nina Gilbert, Latonia Wilson , Donesha Spivey and the 1,600 meter relay team all set school records on the day for the Lady Techsters at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
"It was a great day for us," said Tech track and field head coach Gary Stanley. "We had some great performances today in a meet that featured some of the top teams and athletes in the country."
The meet featured six of the top seven women's teams in the country and nine squads ranked in the trackwire top-25 rankings.
This was the final meet before the Lady Techsters attempt to win their first conference title since 1999 at the Western Athletic Conference Championships.
The Tech women have clearly emerged as one of the favorites after second place finishes a year ago at the indoor and outdoor conference championships.
"We have two weeks to prepare ourselves mentally and physically for the WAC meet and were are looking forward to that in two weeks," said Stanley.
Wilson clocked a 23.74 in the 200 meters to come in 7th while setting the school record. The time is also an NCAA provisional qualifying mark for the sophomore.
Gilbert smashed her own school record that was set last year the WAC Championships by running a 53.67 to finish third in the 400 meters. The Houston native's mark is also an NCAA provisional qualifying time and the top performance in the WAC so far this year in the 400 meters.
Spivey set the school record in the long jump with a leap of 19-7 ½ to win the long jump competition. Spivey also ran a 24.15 in the 200 meter which would have set the school record if it were not for Wilson's time on Saturday.
However, the most impressive performance of the day might have been turned in by the 1,600 meter relay team that shattered its own school record with a mark of 3:37.48. The 4X400 meter relay team of Doria Appleberry, Wilson, Krystal Cole and Gilbert set the WAC Championships record last year with a 3:40.35 while winning the indoor and outdoor WAC titles a year ago. The time on Saturday is also a NCAA provisional mark as the relay squad came in third place.
For the Bulldogs, freshman Kinsey Dinnel continued his solid indoor season with a personal best of 8:31.43 to finish third in the 3,000 meters.
Dinnel also ran strong on the distance medley relay as did David Phillips as the relay clocked its fastest time of the season at 10:12.51. Phillips had a 1:50 split time in his 800 meters.
Johnathan Holland barely missed the school record in the men's 200 meters with a time of 21.32, his fastest of the season.
Shaterika Allen had a personal best in the women's shot put with a throw of 46-2, which is the top mark in the WAC so far during the indoor season.
Ayanna Alexander also had an NCAA provisonal mark in the triple jump of 41-11 1/4 but it was not her best of the season which is 43-4 1/2. Alexander is the reigning WAC indoor and outdoor triple jump champion.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A long day at the University of Arkansas Tyson Foods Invitational turned out to be one of the best in history of the Louisiana Tech track and field program as four school records were smashed and five marks were NCAA qualifying performances.
Nina Gilbert, Latonia Wilson , Donesha Spivey and the 1,600 meter relay team all set school records on the day for the Lady Techsters at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
"It was a great day for us," said Tech track and field head coach Gary Stanley. "We had some great performances today in a meet that featured some of the top teams and athletes in the country."
The meet featured six of the top seven women's teams in the country and nine squads ranked in the trackwire top-25 rankings.