TU sprints to second
By: Muhammad Waheed, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Towson University Athletics
Towson placed second at the Loyola-Johns Hopkins Invitational by finishing first in four different events.
Junior Naja McAdam’s 5-5 leap won her the high jump.
“Naja’s been working hard all of her three years here,” Head Coach Mike Jackson said. “Just really glad to see some progress. It was her first individual victory in college and it matches probably her best performance in college. Just really proud of her and looking forward to it continuing to happen.”
Junior Rachel Laryea placed first in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.63 seconds.
“She was the top seed going into the meet, so I just encouraged her to get the job done and to win and she did that, so also proud of her efforts,” Jackson said.
Sophomore Jamila Brown placed first in the 200 meter dash with a season-best time of 24.77 seconds. Brown was one of five runners to place in the top six in that respective event.
“She didn’t compete very much indoors and she and I agreed that she needed to get a couple more races in, so she ran with her teammates in the 200 and they really pushed her and she was able to come out on top,” Jackson said.
Senior Megan Kelly placed second in the same event with a time of 24.89 seconds. Laryea came in fourth place with a time of 25.81 seconds. Sophomore Alexis Goodman placed fifth with a time of 25.99, and junior Druex Collins came in sixth place with a time of 26.29 seconds.
“I think we have a very talented team,” Jackson said. “I was surprised that there weren’t other teams in our heat or more people from other teams, but I thought we seeded our athletes fairly and they did a good job and really just represented Towson very well.”
Brown, Kelly, sophomore T’Reyah Johnson and senior Amanda Famularo placed first in in the 4X400-meter relays with a time of 3:48.42.
The 4X400-meter relay team of freshman Ivonna Hoskins, sophomore Toni James, junior Tiffany Woods and Collins came in second place with a 3:37.88 time.
“I just think they were competitive, focused on winning,” Jackson said. “Just saw some good things from a lot of people and I was very proud of how they represented themselves so I’m just focused on being competitive and playing to win usually gets the job done.”
Towson will host the TU Invite at Johnny Unitas Stadium on Saturday, April 14, with throwing events set to begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by running events at noon.
“We’re really excited about it,” Jackson said. “It’s a meet that our team always focuses on just because being able to have friends and family come and see them. We also have a ring ceremony on that Friday night which will commemorate our championship win from last year so it’s a great and exciting weekend. Looks like the weather is going to be great as well so I just think they just have some great anticipation for the great things that are going to happen this weekend.”