By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
MURRAY, Ky. – The University of Tennessee at Martin track and field program opened the outdoor portion of its 2022 schedule with a strong showing at the Margaret Simmons Invitational this weekend as both sophomore standout Darius Holland (triple jump) and the 4x800m relay team won their respective events and set new school records in their wake.
With the indoor season concluding and championships being handed out almost exactly a month ago, the Skyhawks were eager to return to the track for the start of the outdoor slate this weekend. Action began on Friday morning and concluded late Saturday afternoon with the Skyhawk men coming in fourth place overall (65 points) while the women’s team finished 12th (16 points) in spite of gusty wind conditions which altered times throughout the weekend.
While many Skyhawks got their feet wet with action throughout the weekend, some of the team’s top contributors included Holland who is coming off of being named OVC Freshman of the Year during the indoor season. Holland, who is in his second outdoor campaign, competed in the triple jump on Friday afternoon and posted a winning distance of 13.89 meters on his third attempt. Not only was his distance the best in the field but bested the program’s previous school record by over 1.7 meters.
The Skyhawk men also built upon a championship relay pedigree which developed at the recent OVC Indoor Championship. The quartet of Hawken Foote, Luke McNair, Cole Davis and Jack Blyth posted a UTM record-setting time of 7:52.94 to both win the event and shatter the previous program record by over eight seconds.
Also on Friday afternoon, a pair of Skyhawks competed in their respective 200m groups. Freshman JayleAna Wyatt competed in a veteran 200m dash group and held her own by posting a time of 25.70 seconds – the fastest time by a freshman in the field. Sophomore John Collin also recorded a strong time in the fourth heat of the men’s 200m dash with a mark of 22.53 seconds for a new PR.
In Saturday’s action, UT Martin had several competitors in both the women’s and men’s 1500m heats. On the women’s side, Heat 2 proved to produce the best times for the Skyhawks as sophomore Lilia Alvarez won her heat and posted a 10th overall time of 4:55.21. Freshman Annie Amundsen was also strong for the women with a time of 4:58.53 for a new PR. Meanwhile on the men’s side, McNair finished third overall in a field which featured six different heats after posting a time of 4:01.11.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, junior Addison Taylor posted a strong showing in a loaded field by finishing eighth overall while earning a new PR with a time of 15.19 seconds.
After an impressive performance in the 200m dash the day before, Wyatt returned to action on Saturday in the 100m dash. She burst out of the eighth lane to win her heat and finish fourth overall with a time of 12.24 seconds. On the men’s side, JaMichael McGoy was matched up in a veteran heat of the 100m dash and the freshman left his mark by finishing sixth overall on the day with a time of 10.97 seconds.
Wrapping up the event was the men’s 5k where the Skyhawk pair of Will Oglesby and George Payne really impressed. The tandem ran with the lead pack throughout the race before finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 15:32.63 and 15:33.80.
UT Martin will return to action next weekend when competing at the Joey Haines Invitational in Cape Girardeau, Mo. running from Friday, Apr. 1 through Saturday, Apr. 2.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information