NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On the heels of strong performances last week, the Belmont Women's Track and Field team will compete at the Drury Hotels Joey Haines Invitational, hosted by Southeast Missouri State.
The Bruins saw their first full meet last week competing at the Margaret Simmons Invitational, giving the coaching staff a better idea of where the athletes are physically. "After we did the shake out at Murray State, we know where we are at, and we can be a little more aggressive with our strategy," noted Belmont's Director of Track and Field Jeff Langdon.
Assistant Coach Cameron Harvey eyes strong performances at the upcoming meet after knocking a bit of the rust off last week. "Last weekend, our sprinters came in with a high level of nerves, and it took last weekend to learn what to do with those nerves on race day," he said.
"I'm excited because I know that a lot of these women are in great shape, and I'm excited to see what they can do a little more confidence and relaxation can do on race day."
"Tyra (Finkeldey) and Adreanna (Parlette) are on a roll. Tyra is getting some confidence back in the pole vault. I know she is excited for another opportunity to clear some more bars," said Harvey. "Adreanna will be back in the Long Jump, but will also be competing in the High Jump. If she gets a good jump in, she's going to go really high. She has got some springs on her."
Both Parlette (Nashville, Tenn.) and Finkeldey (Old Saybrook, Conn.) excelled at last week's Margaret Simmons Invitational. Parlette went on to set a school record in Long Jump, with a distance of 6.00m.
"Our javelin crew can hopefully see some improvements coming off a track runway instead of a grass one," said Assistant Coach Joe Frye about the throwers. "Our ring events, like shot put, discus, and hammer should continue to see improvement moving forward."
Last week, senior Jessica Mattsson (Tierp, Sweden), sophomore Maddie Quinn (Bible Hill, Canada) and freshman Rebekah Stucker (Odessa, Mo.) took home first place wins in their events at the Simmons Invitational. Stucker broke a pair of Belmont records in both the Shot Put (14.12m) and Discus (49.15m.).
"I think our girls have some specific things to work on, and they all had a great practice today. They are all in high spirits after this past weekend," said Frye.
"Katie Flaherty is running the 1500m in her first outdoor track meet event of her Belmont career. She is in really good shape," said Assistant Coach Katie Bucknam. "Brooke (Garter) had a great race last weekend and is ready to tackle the 1500m this weekend."
Garter (Kings Mills, Ohio) finished in the top-15 last weekend with a time of 4:56.80 in the 1500m.
"I think if we can get our athletes to perform at a high level and with consistency, we should get a lot of confidence as a team, and the results should take care of themselves," Langdon said.
The Drury Hotels Joey Haines Invitational will begin Friday, April 2 in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Live results will be available for each day of the meet.
