Track And Field Opens Indoor Campaign Saturday

Saturday, December 2

Nashville, Tenn.

All Day

University of Memphis

Vanderbilt Opener

Photo by: Michael Wade

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

Tigers to compete in Vanderbilt Opener in Nashville.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis track and field team kicks off its 2017-18 indoor season Saturday, Dec. 2 at the Vanderbilt Opener in Nashville, and head coach Kevin Robinson is pumped.

As with the start to every season, there is excitement. However, Robinson's enthusiasm for 2017-18 is overflowing, and why not. The Tigers return four All-Americans and over a dozen NCAA East Preliminaries qualifiers from last season's team.

The action begins Saturday at 10 a.m. (CT) at the Vanderbilt Fieldhouse, and the meet goes until the early evening.

Team Scoring
The 2017 Vanderbilt Opener is a non-scoring meet.

Competing Schools
Alabama A&M (M), Belmont (M/W), Berry (M/W), Campbellsville (M/W), Jackson State (W), Louisville (M/W), Memphis (M/W), Mercer (W), Middle Tennessee (M/W), Murray State (M/W), Southeast Missouri (M/W), Tennessee State (M/W), Tennessee Tech (M/W), Tennessee-Martin (M/W), Trevecca Nazarene (M/W), Vanderbilt (W), Western Kentucky (M/W)

Head coach Kevin Robinson
"We've put together a team that can and should be competitive this year. Fall training has gone well. I'm excited about the group, both the men's and women's teams. It's taken some time to build, but this is a good year to prove that we belong. Obviously, we got a lot of work to do, and we're not there yet. But, we have the tools in the toolbox, and we need to make sure we're ready to use them.

"The expectation level, the motivational level on our team is extremely high. We had some positive things happen in our program last year, and we brought back most of those athletes that performed at a high level. Our kids are fired up and ready to compete against somebody and get after it. This my 15^th season here at Memphis, and this is the most fired up I've been for a season to start in quite a while.

"Our teams are hungry. We spent all fall working hard. Saturday's meet gives us an opportunity to go out and see how we match up, to see if the work we've put in pays off. This fall, we've raised the level of expectation, and they've bought in. Now, it's time to step up and show it.

"Saturday's meet serves three purposes. First, we use it as a barometer to gauge where we are and what we need to work on. Second, I want to see our athletes step up and compete, and I want to see them better than they were when we started this fall. And, for our younger group, this meet is going to be its first taste of NCAA Division I athletics, and I want them to have some competitive composure. I want them to compete and not worry about what uniform the other athletes are wearing. I want them to stay focused and see if they can execute under pressure. If they can do that, it will solidify this team."

Tigers Tidbits/Notes To Know

This is the fourth-straight year Memphis opens the indoor portion of its schedule at the Vanderbilt Opener. The annual meet is in its fifth season.
Saturday's meet is the first of three the Tigers are competing in at Vanderbilt during the indoor season. Memphis also travels to Nashville Jan. 19-20 for the Vanderbilt Invitational and Feb. 9-10 for the Music City Challenge.
The Tigers set six indoor records a season ago, and three of those record-setters return, with all on the men's side. Junior Davon DeMoss (60m/200m), senior Julian Sanchez-Pinto (5000m) and graduate student Luke Vaughn (shot put) all set school marks in 2016-17. Three of those records – DeMoss' 200 meters (21.18), Sanchez-Pinto's 5000 meters (14:36.18) and Vaughn's shot put (59-7; 18.16m) – came at the 2017 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships.
The Memphis men's team also returns five performers that won conference titles last season. Senior Olushola Olojo took the triple jump title, and junior Jordan Wesner won the high jump crown. Three of the four sprinters – seniors LaForrest Church and Jason Kimmet and sophomore Kolbeinn Gunnarsson – return from the 2017 championship 4x400 meter relay.
On the women's side, Memphis returns sophomore sprinter Cera Chavez, who hit her stride in the 2017 outdoor season. She set the school record in the women's outdoor 200 meters (23.32) last year.
After enjoying years of experience in the women's pole vault with All-American Carolina Carmichael, Dorina Baiker and Jada Parker, the Tigers turn the page to a younger tandem in 2017-18. Sophomores Allie Hughes and Lily Moore both competed last season, and will be the leaders of that group this campaign.
As they did in last season's indoor opener, many of the Memphis distance runners are not competing Saturday after the 2017 cross country season ended in mid-November. The lone distance runner scheduled to compete Saturday is junior Matthew Kamph in the men's 3000 meters.

Freshmen Debuts
Men – Parker Evans (WT/SP), Nick Martin (60m/200m), Sir Newton Lee (400m)
Women – Kate Hise (WT/SP), Paris Perkins (400m), Kacie Scott (200m/400m)

Memphis Debuts
Men – Andrew Bishop (60m/200m), Jarred Pasley (400m)
Women – Loushany Nemour (60m/200m)

Up Next
The Tigers take just over six weeks off from competition for the Christmas/semester break and return to action in mid-January. Memphis is back in action Jan. 19-20 at the Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville.