Track And Field Hosts Memphis Invitational This Weekend

Friday, April 29

Memphis, Tenn.

University of Memphis

Memphis Invitational

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Track And Field Hosts Memphis Invitational This Weekend

Apr 28, 2016 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Meet is Tigers' final tune-up before conference championships in mid-May.

Memphis Invitational/Live Results

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – This weekend, the University of Memphis Park Avenue campus is going to be busy with Tigers athletics hosting events. In addition to baseball and softball games, the track and field squads host their only home meet of the outdoor campaign, the Memphis Invitational, Friday and Saturday, Apr. 29-30.

Admission to the Memphis Invitational is $5 for adults (13 and up), $3 for youth (ages 6-12) and free for children (5 and under).

The Memphis Invitational is the last meet before the Tigers travel to Orlando, Fla., for the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championships in mid-May.

The two-day track and field invitational is set for the Billy J. Murphy Track and Field Complex on the University's Park Avenue campus. The meet begins Friday, Apr. 29 at 3 p.m. (CT) with the men's and women's hammer and 5000 meter run. On Saturday, Apr. 30, the field events start at 10 a.m. (CT), and the track events begin at 12 p.m. (CT).

The Tigers are welcoming the largest field for the invitational, as 14 schools are scheduled to compete. The participating teams are: Memphis (M/W), Western Kentucky (M/W), Little Rock (M/W), Tennessee State (M/W), Middle Tennessee (M/W), Ole Miss (M/W), Arkansas State (M/W), Louisville (M/W), Central Arkansas (M/W), Southeast Missouri (M/W), Austin Peay (W), Christian Brothers (M/W), Hendrix (M) and Missouri (M/W).

Memphis enters its "regular-season" finale looking to put together a complete team performance. In their 2016 outdoor campaign, the Tigers have had several highlights, including three school records. The three record-setting performances were by sophomore Michael Criticos in the men's javelin, freshman Ashley Pryke in the women's javelin and junior Martina Rodriguez Sala in the women's 1500 meters.

Criticos set the men's javelin school record (233-5; 71.16m) at last week's War Eagle Invitational in Auburn, Ala., and Pryke claimed the women's school mark (160-10; 49.03m) at Southeast Missouri's Joey Haines Invitational in early April. Criticos and Pryke both surpassed the previous school marks by over two feet.

Rodriguez Sala topped her own school 1500 meters record at the prestigious Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in early April. Rodriguez Sala placed third in a time of 4:20.46, which was over two seconds better than her 4:22.72 she ran a season ago.

Other top performers on the women's side have been turned in by Carolina Carmichael in the pole vault, Chardae Greenlee in the triple jump and Sydney Wright in the long jump. Carmichael has three top-two finishes in her four outings this season, including a season-best 14-2 (4.32m) mark at last week's War Eagle Invitational.

Greenlee won two triple jump titles this season (Vanderbilt Black & Gold Invitational; War Eagle Invitational) and jumped a season-best 42-6 (12.95m) at last week's meet at Auburn. Wright won the long jump title at Southeast Missouri's Joey Haines Invitational and, on three occasions, has come within four inches of the program's record.

Corentin Louis, Davon DeMoss and Luke Vaughn have helped pace the men's team efforts this spring. Louis boasts the squad's top times in both the 800 and 1500 meter runs. His 3:46.08 time in the 1500 meters last week was his personal best.

DeMoss, a freshman, holds the team's top times in the 100 and 200 meter runs and as a member of the 4x100 meter relay. He has four top-five 100 meters finishes this season, including a second-place performance at Vanderbilt's Black & Gold Invitational.

Vaughn has the Tigers' top throws in the discus, hammer and shot put this season. Vaughn's best discus toss of the season was 188-1 (57.33m) at the Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in early April, and his highest discus finish was second place at Vanderbilt's Black & Gold Invitational in March.