Troy claims many medals

Published 12:12 am Sunday, March 29, 2009

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Troy Trojans concluded the 30th-annual FSU Relays with numerous medals and a pair of first-place finishes in an abbreviated scoring meet Saturday afternoon.

The results of the Heptathlon and Decathlon were posted Saturday afternoon, although the events were concluded on Friday.

Senior Agata Cichoszewska finished second in the event with 4558 points, finishing just behind Syracuse’s Uhunoma Osazuwa who finished with 4797 points. Sophomore Chontia Allen finished sixth in the event with 3994 points. Meanwhile, Mike Conley finished second in the Decathlon with 6298 points, finishing just 40 points behind champion Grant Scelzi of South Florida. Grant Bullington finished fifth with 5753 points, while Leander McKenzie finished sixth with 5491 points.

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In other events contested Saturday, the Trojans came away with three gold medals in individual events. Cichoszewska claimed another gold in the triple jump, claiming the title with a jump of 12.53 meters (41’1.50”), finishing almost three feet ahead of second-place Ieva Staponkute of Syracuse. Meanwhile, Lamontrey Stamper won his second gold medal of the weekend, jumping 14.34 meters (47’0.75”), finishing just over one foot ahead of teammate Terrell Irons at 13.97 meters (45’10”). Sophomore Latoya Ragland won the third gold medal of the day for the Trojans, clocking a time of 13.58 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing 0.64 seconds ahead of Florida State’s Paige Morton.

Meanwhile, the Trojans also won a gold medal in a relay event; capturing gold in the 1600-meter Sprint Medley. The team of Burke Leonce, Lamar Hicks, Matavis Madden and Shane George captured the gold medal with a time of 3:39.28; finishing over 10 seconds ahead of the second-place team from Nova Southeastern.

Other Trojans who won individual medals included senior Norman Austin, who captured his second consecutive silver medal this weekend. Austin registered a throw of 54.05 meters (177’4”), finishing behind Florida State’s Bryan Howard, Sr. in the event (59.35 meters). Junior Tiphanie Baker captured another medal this weekend, this time a silver in the discus with a throw of 44.97 meters (147’6”), finishing just behind Florida’s Keely Medeiros. Senior Lamar Hicks ran the 100-meters for the first time this season, and finished third in the event with a time of 10.38 seconds. He finished behind Florida’s Terrell Wilks (10.23 seconds) and Jeremy Hall (10.29 seconds) in the event.

The final event that the Trojans were able to medal in over the weekend was the 1500-meters, in which the Trojans were able to capture a silver and a bronze. Drew Horner captured the silver in the event, finishing with a time of 3:13.92; while teammate Adam Vise finished third with a time of 4:16.61. They both finished behind Floirida State’s Nathan Duby with a time of 3:58.59.

The Trojans captured another medal in a relay event, with the 4×100-meter relay team picking up a silver medal with a time of 41.12. The team of Payton McGhee, Hicks, McLeod and Leonce finished behind Florida State and ahead of Florida A&M for the silver.

Other events involving Trojans included the duscus in which senior Monique Jordan finished fourth with a throw of 41.06 meters (134’8”). In the men’s discus, Ryan Schmeling finished fourth with a throw of 44.50 meters (146’), and Michael Martin fifth in the same event with a throw of 43.75 meters (143’6”). In the only other field event involving a Trojan, MacKenzie Howell finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 50.75 meters (166’10”), finishing less than a foot from third place.

In track events involving Trojans, Ragland finished 13th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.34 – the only female competing in the event. In the men’s 100-meter dash, Antonio McLeod finished fifth with a time of 10.58 (a season-best) and Burke Leonce 12th with a time of 10.89 seconds. Naquita Rowe finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles, the same event Ragland won, with a time of 14.29 seconds (a season-best).

In middle distance action for the Trojans, Erika Fyrvall finished ninth in the 800-meters with a time of 2:26.96, while teammate Brentley Collins finished 13th in the event with a time of 2:38.90 (a season-best). In the men’s 800-meters, McElroy finished seventh with a time of 2:02.07; while Drew Taylor finished 14th with a time of 2:10.84.

Kelly Harrington finished eighth in the 1500-meters with a time of 5:13.23, while Fyrvall finished just behind Harrington in ninth with a time of 5:16.82. Meanwhile, in the 3000-meters, Harrington finished fourth with a time of 11:34.45 – finishing just behind North Florida’s Jessica Villemaire for the bronze medal.

With the meet having to go to a rolling schedule due to weather, the meet coordinators quit scoring after a handful of events were scored. Although the meet was not entirely scored, the Trojan women finished first with a total of 38 points; finishing ahead of second-place Florida State with 28 points. Meanwhile on the men’s side, the Trojans finished first with 28 points, finishing ahead of Florida State with 18 points.

The women’s 4×100-meter relay team finished fifth, just outside medal contention, when the team of Ariel Cazavos, Ragland, Rowe and Shay Matthews ran a time of 48.45; just 0.02 seconds from fourth and less than a second from third place. In the women’s 4×400-meter relay, the team of Rowe, Kapri Hockaday, Matthews and Allen finished fifth with a time of 4:05.56 – less than s econd from fourth and less than two seconds from third. In the men’s 4×400-meter relay, the team of Andre McElroy, Dennis Acree, Shane George and Madden finished fourth with a time of 3:23.48.

Troy returns to action next weekend at the Tiger Track Classic, hosted by Auburn University.