LIVE RESULTS |
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State's track and field program hits the road for Cookeville, Tenn., for the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships held May 10-12 on the campus of Tennessee Tech.
The Gamecocks are coming off a strong outdoor season where they set six new school records. Junior
Brittany Cook, who won OVC athlete of the week honors in mid-April, established a trio of new school records in the long jump, triple jump and 100 meter hurdles this spring. She was joined by seniors
Laura Craig and
Courtney Bennett who set new program standards in the pole vault and discus events, respectively. JSU also saw a new javelin mark get set by
Marelly Balentina in March.
JSU's outdoor schedule was briefly interrupted for the March 19 tornado which struck Jacksonville and the JSU campus. The Gamecocks' second home meet on the schedule had to be canceled, but the team responded with strong showings at South Alabama and Western Carolina in the following weeks. After meets at Auburn and Tennessee in the final month of the season, Jax State looks poised to make some noise at this year's championships.
Senior teammates
Samantha Patterson and
Kelsey Walling have provided JSU a solid contingent along with Craig in the pole vault competition. At East Tennessee State in late April, the trio all finished in the top six.
Bennett has continued her dominance in the throwing events in 2018 winning multiple times in the discus and shot put. Along with Bennett, Balentina and junior
Bryana Scott, who scored a runner-up finish in the discus at ETSU with a career-best effort of 45.02 meters, have added to JSU's field points this season.
The Gamecocks also have the ability to earn points in the jumps with Cook leading the way. However,
Erica Edwards,
Madison Rollins and
Briana Caudle have all posted strong marks throughout the season.
On the track, sophomore
Emily Sorrell has been a consistent threat in the distance events with wins in the 800 and 1500 meter runs.
The Gamecocks will aim to top their seventh-place team finish from a year ago, as action gets underway from Tucker Stadium on Thursday.
