The track and field team opened their indoor season over the weekend with two events in Birmingham, Alabama. A handful of Panthers finished in the top 10 in several events hosted inside the Birmingham Complex Arena.
Lotte Meyberg was Georgia State’s first athlete to compete in the UAB Blazer Invite on Friday morning. She ran the mile in 5:09.11, placing her in seventh place. Meyber, also a cross country star, finished fourth in the 3,000m run the next day at the UAB Vulcan Invite with a time of 10:19.15.
The freshman’s hot start gives reason to expect Meyberg to be force to be reckoned with for the rest of her career at Georgia State. After dominating in cross country in the fall with two wins and more superb finishes, she’s proving she can perform just as well in the spring semester.
Last season’s team routinely posted two top-tier finishes with now-graduated LaPorsha Wells and Alysiah Wells. However, the upperclassmen still came to play in their first track and field event of the year.
Two seniors competitors stood out on Friday. Michaela McGhee ran the 500m dash in a seventh place time of 1:19.26. In the weight throw, Rashell Reid completed a throw of 17.47m for eight place overall.
Other Panthers to finish in the top half of UAB Blazer Invite events were Kayla Jordan in the 300m dash with 40.65 and Kelsey Gray with 15.33m in the weight throw.
To open the indoor season last year, Georgia State placed in the team standings at the BSC Icebreaker Indoor T&F Icebreaker, also held in Birmingham. Ole Miss won the most events on Friday as athletes took home five first-places finishes at the UAB Blazer Invite. Alabama walked away with first-place in three events.
On Saturday, the Panthers laced up to return to the Birmingham Complex Arena for the UAB Vulcan Invite. After three exceptional performances on Friday, head coach Chris England’s team looked for equal or better performances.
Under the direction of assistant coach Kyle Stevenson, the sprinters logged two finishes in he top half. Zensha Tennyson ran the 60m dash in 7.88 seconds, placing her in 28th place out of the 69 sprinters. 5’1” senior, Gabby Irving finished in 26th place in the 200m dash with a smooth time of 25.32 seconds.
Nuria Ramirez ran a 10:39.63 in the long distance 3000m, joining Meyberg in the top 10. Morgan Laushey paced herself to 5:27.92 in the mile, falling just .8 from a top 15 finish.
Leaping 1.59 meters, Jada Watson sprung her way to 14th place in the high jump. Ashlan Rosier found herself back in the top five early this year, coming in fifth in the long jump with a distance of 5.56m. Westlake High School product, Ra’Breekia Harrison logged an impressive 11.56 meters in the triple jump, good for fourth place.
Reid finished ninth-place in the weight throw with 14.67m as she watched Wells’ meet record fall at the hands of Tennessee’s Stamatia Scarvelis. Tennessee swept the sprint events and won six on the day.
Georgia State’s next meet is the Samford Open which runs from Friday through Saturday. In last season’s Samford Open, Angela Alonso ran a third place time of 2:15.10 in the 800m.
