"Coming back from Christmas break, we had three days of practice, put the minimum number of athletes on the bus to form a legal squad, but got maximum performances from everyone at the meet," said an exuberant TSU Head Women’s Track and Field Coach Andy McCampbell as he reflected on the performances of the Lady Trojans at the Southern Illinois Invitational indoor track and field meet this past Saturday.

The outstanding individual performance came from recently acquired TSU soccer player Casey Wiegley who "had roughly three practices" before she competed in the high jump this past weekend.

Wiegley, who last jumped in high school two years ago, cleared 5’5", which was only one inch below her personal best and earned her a second place finish in a tough field.

Another freshman, Lindsey Minnihan almost stole the mile run as she finished second with a time of 5:34.

The distance medley relay team of Erin Doud, Julia Miller, Mandi Dyess, and Jen Lynch finished a strong third behind Mississippi State and Southeast Missouri.

Doud ran the fastest 1200-meter leg in the history of the school as she clocked a 3:55 time for her portion of the relay.

Another pleasant surprise was former S.E. Halifax (NC) high school star Katrina Lewis who finished fourth in the shot put (38’2", 3rd on the all time TSU indoor list) after just entering school last Monday.

Sophomore Michelle Thompson became the first Lady Trojan to compete in the indoor pole vault and set a school record with a leap of 7’6".

Another freshman who entered at mid-semester, Shakena Crenshaw from Pensacola’s Woodham High School, made the finals in the 60-meter dash (8.14) and also ran well in the 200-meter dash.

School record holder Sherion Taylor popped her second best indoor triple jump ever as she reached 38’1" which earned her third place.

"This was a team of freshmen and sophomores who competed like veterans in what was for many of them their first indoor competition ever, not to mention their first collegiate meet as well.

I’m excited about what is going to happen by the time April rolls around when we host the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships," said McCampbell.