Track And Field Preview: Rhodes Invitational

Friday, March 15

Memphis, Tenn.

All Day

University of Memphis

Rhodes Invitational

Photo by: Stacy White

Mar 14, 2019 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Rhodes Invitational Schedule Rhodes Invitational Heat Sheets

Tigers open 2019 outdoor campaign this weekend.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis track and field squad begins its 2019 outdoor campaign at the Rhodes Invitational this weekend. It's a quick turnaround for the Tigers, as the indoor season just came to an end recently.

For two Tigers, Davon DeMoss and Jordan Wesner, the indoor campaign just closed last weekend at the NCAA Championships in Birmingham. For the remainder of the squad, the indoor season finished at the American Athletic Conference Championships in late February.

Now, the page turns to the outdoor portion of the year when the Tigers usually excel. In 2018, Memphis put together one of its best outdoor seasons in program history that culminated in a top-20 team finish at the NCAA Championships on the men's side, including an NCAA title in the men's discus (Luke Vaughn). The women's squad sent two athletes – Ashley Pryke and Martina Rodriguez-Sala – to the NCAA Championships.

The Rhodes Invitation starts Friday at 2 p.m. (CT) with the field events, with the running events to start at 5 p.m. (CT). Saturday action kicks off at 10 a.m. (CT).

Head coach Kevin Robinson comments
"We, as a team, are very excited to get outside. Historically, we're a better outdoor team than indoor. We compete hard in indoors, but outdoors is a little more of a level playing field for us. In outdoor, we add a couple of events that are good for us. It gives us a few more distance opportunities and adds a couple of throws, including javelin.

"I'm excited (for the outdoor season). We put together a runner-up finish last year. We had a solid 2018, but we're not the same team we were last season. But we're still a solid team. If we stay healthy and continue to do the little things, then, by the end of the year, we'll be a pretty good team. The team is talented and hungry, and we're going to fight hard.

"We have our first meet this Friday and Saturday. It's at Rhodes College, and it's local. It's great for us because a lot of our local athletes' parents, families and friends can come out and support us. This is a good meet for us to test our athletes and see where they're at. It's gives us a chance to learn the identity of this program. The meet gives us a starting point that we can build on throughout the season. I'm excited for the meet, and I hope we see some sunshine."

Team Scoring
The Rhodes Invitational is a non-scoring meet.

Tigers Tidbits

The Tigers open an outdoor season within the Memphis limits, but it's not a home meet. For the third-straight year and the fourth time in the last five seasons, the Memphis track and field squad travels only five miles across the Bluff City to Rhodes College to open its outdoor campaign. Memphis also began its outdoor season in 2015, 2017 and 2018 at the Rhodes College Invitational.
Memphis had a "break-out" start to its 2018 outdoor season at last year's Rhodes Invitational. The Tigers posted 32 top-three performances, including 13 first-place finishes. Among those first-place finishes were double-winning performances from Calvin Austin III (4x100m relay/4x400m relay), Davon DeMoss (4x100m relay/4x400m relay) and Imri Persiado (200m/4x100m relay).
The Tigers return three All-Americans from their 2018 squad. Ashley Pryke earned All-America first team honors in the women's javelin, and Calvin Austin III and Naaman Norment took All-American honorable mention accolades in the men's 4x400 meter relay. For Pryke, it was the second All-America first team honor of her career.
Memphis also returns 14 performers that qualified for the 2018 NCAA East Preliminaries. They are: Noah Agnew (high jump), Calvin Austin III (4x100m relay/4x400m relay), Saida Burns-Moore (high jump/triple jump), Davon DeMoss (100m/200m/4x100m relay), Kolbeinn Gunnarsson (4x100m relay), Mona Jaidi (discus/hammer/javelin), Samantha Lenton (discus), Adam Neelly (discus/shot put), Naaman Norment (4x400m), Olushola Olojo (triple jump), Imri Persiado (200m/4x100m), Ashley Pryke (javelin), Julian Sanchez-Pinto (3000m steeplechase), and Jordan Wesner (high jump).
The Tigers have 10 athletes that own outdoor school records on their 2019 roster. The men's record holders are: Calvin Austin III (4x100m relay/4x400m relay), Davon DeMoss (100m/4x100m relay), Kolbeinn Gunnarsson (4x100m relay), Naaman Norment (4x400m relay), Imri Persiado (4x100m relay), and Jordan Wesner (high jump). On the women's side, they are: Saida Burns-Moore (high jump), Cera Chavez(200m/4x100m relay), Mona Jaidi (discus/hammer), and Ashley Pryke (javelin).