Photo courtesy of Sam Jordan / TSU Athletics
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Tennessee State track and field teams returned to action with 12 top eight finishes, including three individual championships. The Flying Tigers and the Tigerbelles competed at the UAB Blazer Invitational, marking their first competition in over a month.
Quamel Prince opened 2015 with a pair of victories. On Friday, Prince bested the meet record in the 500 meter with a time of 1:02.55, breaking the tape ahead of three runners from Mississippi State. The redshirt-sophomore came back strong on Saturday setting a meet record in the 800 meter run. Prince crossed in 1:51.66, besting the previous record, set in 2013, by just under two seconds.
Clairwin Dameus earned the lone first place finish for the Tigerbelles. The sophomore claimed the top spot in the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.00 meters (19’7).
Amber Hughes made her mark on the weekend with two top five finishes. The sophomore opened the weekend by qualifying for the finals in the 60 meter hurdles, before placing third on day two in the collegiate division in a time of 8:52. Hughes finished just behind runners from Florida and Mississippi State. On day one, Hughes earned a fifth place standing in the 300 meters with a time of 40.36.
Dameus and Hughes teamed with Diera Taylor and Christian Pryor and in the 4×400. The quartet finished second in the event clocking in at 3:47.64. The Tigerbelles came .68 seconds short of the squad from Alabama State.
Pryor earned an eighth place finish in the 800 meters (2:20.38), while Kenyana Hampton placed fifth in the 1,000 meter run (3:03.71). Theodore Nicholson finished seventh in the men’s 1,000 meter run, crossing the line at 2:42.04. Nicholson was one of eight runners who topped the complex record in the event.
In the women’s high jump, Ja’Lyn Burr tied for second at a height of 1.64 meters (5’4). In the men’s event, Kenji Anderson and Daryl Rice each jumped the sixth best height, reaching 1.95 meters (6’4).
