Track And Field/Cross Country Review: 2018-19

Photo by: Matthew Kamph

Aug 15, 2019 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Tigers celebrate another tremendous year in competition and in the classroom.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Another athletics year has come and gone, and once again, the University of Memphis track and field program proved itself a contender in the American Athletic Conference and a player on the national scene.

The Tigers enjoyed success throughout the entire year – from men's cross country earning its first regional ranking since 2013 to eight performers taking home All-America nine honors from the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June. Memphis also made its presence known beyond the "regular" track and field/cross country campaign with athletes competing in several international events this summer.

Head coach Kevin Robinson comments
"Our student-athletes stepped up again and showed what this program represents. We performed well in competition, and from all the academic honors we earned, we also did our job in the classroom.

"This shows the total picture of what we're trying to do here. I'm thrilled for the student-athletes and what they've accomplished. When we can compete at the highest level athletically and also perform at the same or higher level academically, that says a lot about our program and the student-athletes we have.

"I'm excited about what we accomplished, and I want to build on that momentum. I'm pumped to see what we can do in 2019-20."

2018-19 Highlights

Seven Tigers competed on the international stage this summer.

Athlete	Event
Tanalya Gordon	USA Junior Championships (women's long jump)
Ashley Pryke	World University Games (women's javelin)
Imri Persiado	World University Games (men's 60m)
Adar Sheere	European U23 Championships (men's discus)
Tate Wyatt	Panamerican Championships (men's 3000m steeplechase)/Bronze medal
Zachary Wyatt	Panamerican Championships (men's 3000m steeplechase)
Davon DeMoss	USA Championships (men's 100m)

Eight performers earned All-America accolades at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The eight performers at the NCAA Championships were one shy of the school-record nine the Tigers sent to the 2018 NCAA outdoor meet.

Athlete	Event
Davon DeMoss	Men's 100m (second team)
	Men's 4x100m relay (second team)
Calvin Austin III	Men's 4x100m relay (second team)
Imri Persiado	Men's 4x100m relay (second team)
Andrew Bishop	Men's 4x100m relay (second team)
Julian Sanchez-Pinto	Men's 300m steeplechase (second team)
Mona Jaidi	Women's javelin (second team)
Ashley Pryke	Women's javelin (second team)
Adar Sheere	Men's discus (honorable mention)

Nineteen Tigers qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries, the second-most for a season in program history (second to 2018's 23 qualifiers).

Men (Event)	Women (Event)
Noah Agnew (high jump)	Saida Burns-Moore (high jump)
Calvin Austin III (4x100m relay)	Sandra Ekblom (triple jump)
Andrew Bishop (4x100m relay)	Tanalya Gordon (long jump)
Davon DeMoss (100m/200m/4x100m relay)	Christian Hill (triple jump)
Olushola Olojo (long jump)	Mona Jaidi (discus/hammer/javelin)
Imri Persiado (200m/4x100m relay)	Vigdis Jonsdottir (hammer)
Julian Sanchez-Pinto (3000m steeplechase)	Samantha Lenton (discus)
Adar Sheere (discus)	DeeNia McMiller (hammer)
	Ashley Pryke (javelin)
	Paige Sandwell (3000m steeplechase)
	Amber Simpson (hammer)

Fourteen school records set (indoor/outdoor combined), one shy of the school-record 15 marks set in 2017-18.

Indoor Records	Outdoor Records
Davon DeMoss – men's 60m (6.61)	Davon DeMoss – men's 100m (10.05)
Davon DeMoss – men's 200m (21.10)	Davon DeMoss/Imri Persiado/Calvin Austin III/ Andrew Bishop – men's 4x100m (39.19)
Sir Newton Lee – men's 400m (46.79)	Paige Sandwell – women's 3000m steeplechase (10:28.77)
Julian Sanchez-Pinto – men's 5000m (14:31.39)	Tanalya Gordon – women's long jump (20-7.25/6.28m)
Jordan Wesner – men's high jump (7-4.5/2.25m)	Saida Burns-Moore – women's high jump (5-11.25/1.81m)
Saida Burns-Moore – women's triple jump (42-8.25 (13.01m)	DeeNia McMiller – women's hammer (204-9/62.41m)
DeeNia McMiller – women's weight throw (67-9.75; 20.67m)	Ashley Pryke – women's javelin (188-6/57.47m)

Three Tigers earned Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, tying a program record set in 2017-18.

Student-Athlete	Team
Matthew Kamph	Third
Olushola Olojo#	Third
Ashley Pryke^	Third

#third-straight year selected an Academic All-American
^second-straight year selected an Academic All-American

Six Tigers earned Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades, tying a program record set in 2017-18.

Men	Women
Matthew Kamph	Kristen Adams
Adam Neelly	Ashley Pryke
Olushola Olojo	Paige Sandwell

The men's and women's track and field squads were named to the USTFCCCA Academic Team Awards list for the eighth straight year. Memphis was one of four American Athletic Conference schools to have both men's and women's teams on the list (Cincinnati, Tulsa, Wichita State).
The track and field teams placed 12 student-athletes on the USTFCCCA Academic Individual Awards list. It was the fifth-straight year Memphis had double-digit student-athletes named to the list.

Men	Women
Noah Agnew	Saida Burns-Moore
Adam Neelly	Christian Hill
Olushola Olojo	Samantha Lenton
Imri Persiado	Ashley Pryke
Julian Sanchez-Pinto	Paige Sandwell
Jordan Wesner	Amber Simpson

Olushola Olojo and Ashley Pryke were named American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year in their respective sports. Each received a $2,000 postgraduate scholarship.
The track and field/cross country teams combined to place 45 student-athletes on the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team.
The men's and women's cross country teams were named to the 2018 USTFCCCA Academic Team Awards list. Memphis made the men's list for the sixth time in the last eight seasons, and the women earned the distinction for the seventh time in the last eight years.
The men's cross country team finished the 2018 campaign ranked No. 15 in the USTFCCCA South Region poll. It was the first time since 2013 the men's squad completed a season ranked in the regional poll. The Tigers' highest regional ranking in 2018 was No. 11.
The Tigers women's track and field team placed fourth at The American Outdoor Championships, the program's best finish at a league meet since 1996.
Adar Sheere was named The American's Male Freshman of the Year at the outdoor meet. Sheere won the men's discus title and was fourth in the men's hammer.
Davon DeMoss (men's 60m) and Jordan Wesner (men's high jump) qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, becoming first male athletes to compete at the national indoor meet since 2014.
Davon DeMoss was the program's first sprinter since the early 1980s to race in the NCAA indoor meet.
Jordan Wesner was the program's first high jumper to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Davon DeMoss became the program's first sprinter to earn All-America honors at the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets in the same year.