Track And Field Heads To Joey Haines Invitational

Friday, March 31

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

University of Memphis

Joey Haines Invitational

Lauren Wheeler, 2015-16 Women's Track and Field

Photo by: Nikki Boertman

Mar 30, 2017 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Two school records set, two league athletes of the week in early portion of season.

Joey Haines Invitational/Live Updates

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis men's and women's track and field squads are back in action for a third-straight meet this weekend when the Tigers travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., for the Joey Haines Invitational. Southeast Missouri is hosting the two-day meet Mar. 31-Apr. 1.

The Joey Haines Invitational begins Friday afternoon with the hammer (men/women) and 10,000 meters (men/women). On Saturday, the field events gear back up at 11 a.m. (CT), with the running events to start at 12 p.m. (CT).

With the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships are just over a month away, head coach Kevin Robinson is not looking for his performers to hit their peaks now, but wants to see continued improvement across the board.

Robinson on the Joey Haines Invitational:
"We're not carrying our full squad this weekend because of the two meets we have next week. Several of our athletes will not compete so they can rest and continue to train for those meets.

"Several of our sprinters will compete, but not in their primary events this weekend, and the same with our distance runners. This is to keep them competitively sharp for next week's meets. I'm looking for improvement from our sprinters, which is a group that is starting to develop. Davon (DeMoss), Cera (Chavez) and Kolbeinn (Gunnarsson) all are running Saturday. Hopefully, we'll have Aaron (Persinger) back in the 400 meter hurdles.

"The fields group will compete, and we hope they continue to get better and better. Our throwers won't get a break, and they'll compete Friday and Saturday. The jumps group will do some triple jump this week, where they did the long jump at Ole Miss last week. Next week, they'll double up and do both."

The following is this weekend's meet information:

Team Scoring:
The 2017 Joey Haines Invitational is a non-scoring meet.

Competing Schools:
Arkansas State, DePaul, Harding, Lipscomb, Marquette, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri, UT Martin

Tigers Tidbits/Five "What To Watch For":

Back-to-back/Part I: The Tigers sport consecutive American Athletic Conference Field Athletes of the Week. Two weeks ago, sophomore Ashley Pryke (women's javelin) was named the league's Female Field Athlete of the Week, and this past week, sophomore Jordan Wesner (men's high jump) earned the conference's Male Field Athlete of the Week. Pryke is competing in the women's javelin Saturday. Wesner is not jumping this weekend.
Back-to-back/Part II: The past two weeks, a school record has fallen. First, at the season-opening Rhodes Invitational Mar. 17, Ashley Pryke shattered her own school record in the women's javelin with a 175-3 (53.41m) throw. Her previous mark was 160-10 (49.02m). At last week's Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C., junior Chelsea Ladd set the school record in the women's 10,000 meters by nearly two seconds at 35:31.73. It was the first time she ran the 10,000 meters in her college career. Pryke will throw in the women's javelin at the Joey Haines Invitational this weekend. Ladd will not run.
Back to the track: Sprinters Cera Chavez and Davon DeMoss return to action this weekend. After running in the 400 meters at the Mar. 18 Rhodes Invitational, Chavez is competing in Saturday's 100 and 200 meters and 4x400 meter relay. DeMoss is making his 2017 debut this weekend in the men's 100 meters and 4x400 meter relay. DeMoss enters the outdoor season after a tremendous indoor campaign which saw him set school records in the men's 60 (6.67) and 200 (21.18) meters.
Two meets, two PR: It's been quite the 2017 outdoor season so far for junior Savannah Smith. In the Tigers' first two outdoor meets, the Woodstock, Ga., native set two personal-bests. Smith set her mile personal-best (5:30.58) at the Mar. 18 Rhodes Invitational, and then followed with a personal-best in the women's 1500 meters (5:04.51) at the Mar. 25 Ole Miss Joe Walker Invitational. Smith's mile personal-best bettered her previous outdoor mark by nearly 13 seconds. Smith is running in Saturday's 1500 meters.
Another 5000 PR: That's what junior Lauren Wheeler is looking to do Saturday when she runs in her second women's 5000 meters of the 2017 season. At the Mar. 18 Rhodes Invitational, she shattered her previous best by over 19 seconds. Wheeler ran an 18:50.78 at the Rhodes Invitational. Her previous top 5000 meters time was 19:09.81. Wheeler is one of six Tigers running in Saturday's women's 5000 meters.

Up Next:
The Tigers squads are splitting up for their two meets next week. The sprints and distance groups are scheduled to compete at the Crimson Tide Invitational in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Apr. 7-8. The multi-event and field groups are traveling to Athens, Ga., for the Bulldogs Decathlon/Heptathlon and Spec Towns Invitational Apr. 5-7.