TSU Track & Field Gears Up for Illini Classic

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - The Tennessee State University men's and women's track & field squads travel to Champaign to compete in the Illini Classic hosted by the University of Illinois on Friday and Saturday Jan. 20-21. This will be TSU's fourth event of the indoor season.

TSU will compete against six other teams: Illinois, Illinois State, Lincoln (MO), Missouri, and Ohio Valley Conference members, Southeast Missouri State and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. The meet will start on Friday at 4 p.m. with the women's pentathlon, followed by the men's pentathlon at 4:30 p.m.

Last weekend, TSU registered some solid performances at the Dick Taylor Invitational hosted by the University of North Carolina.

For the Tigerbelles, Ashontae Jackson finished in fifth place for her time of 7.75 in the 60-meter dash finals. Jackson's time is currently ranked fifth in the OVC.

Brittani Logan's toss in the weight throw earned her a fifth place finish by registering a mark of 14.00m (45- 11 ¼). Logan also sits in the fifth spot in the conference. Senior Daniecce Ward earned a top five spot in the triple jump event when she recorded a mark of 11.31m.

The Flying Tigers were led by Royce Dates and Avian Hughes' performances in the long jump. Dates managed a second place finish with a mark of 7.36m (24-1 ¾), while Hughes' jump measured at 7.04 (23-1 ¼). Dates currently holds the top spot in the OVC, while Hughes currently sits in seventh.

Senior Arthur Combest managed a seventh place finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.61 and is in third place in the conference. Combest's high jump mark of 6'8" (2.03m) has him in first place in the OVC.

Results of this weekend's meet will be available online at TSUTigers.com.

Courtesy: Tennessee State University Sports Information