Jackson State track and field kicks off indoor season

Aniecia Brewster
MC Contributor/Staff Writer

The Jackson State University track and field teams kicked off the 2016 indoor season at the UAB Blazer Invitational and the Vulcan Invitational on Jan. 29-30 at the Birmingham Crossplex.

The UAB Blazer Invitational was the first meet for the teams.

For the Tigers, they were ready to finally compete and see how they would do after practicing over and over again.

For the throwing events, Deshaun Allen, a senior from Clinton, Miss., finished 13th in the shot put (13.50 m) and Jerod Miller, a sophomore from Clinton, Miss. finished 24th (10.55 m) overall. Latoya Gliding, a freshman from Trinidad & Tobago finished 14th in the shot put (12.37 m) on the women’s side.

For the jumping events, Javauny Hyde, a freshman from Kingston, Jamaica finished 11th place in the long jump (6.81 m) and Joshua Everett, a transfer junior from Hinds Community College and native of Miami, Fla. came in 18th place (6.47 m) to wrap up the in the field events. Keira Clement, a junior from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Jeida Robertson, a junior from Clarksburg, Md., finished 18th and 19th respectively in the triple jump for the women.

For the running events, James Curtis, a senior from Vineland, N.J., had a 14th place finish with a time of 4:30 in the mile run. Eclecius Franklin, a sophomore from Clinton, Miss. finished 15th in the 3000 meter run with a time of 9:26. Jacques Williams, a junior from East Atlanta, Ga. also had a top 20 finish, as he placed 19th in the 3000 meters (10:18).  Darrion Hampton, a freshman from Jackson, Miss. finished 16th in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:02. Akeilia Knight, a freshman from Barbados had an 18th place finish in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:26 shined for the running events for the Lady Tigers.

Vulcan Invitational was the next day but a different meet for the teams with some different teams to compete against. With short recovery time from competing the previous day, the tigers still performed in each event.

For the running events, Akeilia Knight finished 10th in the 1 mile run (5:43) and Stherline Silencieux a sophomore from Irvington, N.J., finished 13th (5:51). For the men’s side, Darrion Hampton a freshman from Jackson, Miss., finished 3rd in the 800-meter run (1:57). Eclecius Franklin a sophomore from Jackson, Miss., finished 6th in the 1 mile run (4:34) and Jacques Williams a junior from East Atlanta, Ga., placed 10th (4:41). James Curtis a senior from Vineland, N.J., finished fifth in the 3000 meter run (9:34).

For the throwing events, Deshaun Allen, a senior from Clinton, Miss., highlighted the field events for the Tigers with a 9th place finish in the shot put (13.63 m).

JSU returns to action Jan. 22-23 to participate in the Gladstein Invitational in Bloomington, Ind.