The three-day 2019 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Track and Field Championships begin today in Rock Hill, S.C., and Clark Atlanta University head coach
Pamela Page is feeling good about how her team has progressed heading into this big meet.
"I feel pretty confident that we will perform as a team to help us improve our status within the conference," Page said Tuesday before the team left Atlanta. "The conference this year on the women's side is pretty up in the air. Everybody has a lot of pieces here and there, but I think if we pull together as a team, we can have a good showing this year."
Earlier this season, Page said she was looking for improvement from her team from meet to meet, building towards this weekend, something she said they have accomplished.
"We've improved each and every meet," Page said. "Each athlete has run faster and faster. Going into conference [championships], we do have young ladies in just about every event who are listed in the Top 15, if not the Top 20.
In their last meet, the Jacksonville State University Girls Day Out meet on April 6, the Lady Panthers got Top 10 finishes from
Monique Ellis (100 Meter Dash),
Marleen Salters (400 Meter Dash),
Dazya Mitchell (5,000 Meter Run, 3,000 Meter Steeplechase),
Tatyanna Myrie (400 Meter Hurdles),
Kierra King (High Jump, Javelin Throw),
Kali Fernandes (Triple Jump), and
Nikiyja Carter (Shot Put, Hammer Throw). The CAU 4x100 Meter Relay team of
Tatyanna Myrie,
Arianna Myrie,
Monique Ellis, and
Lanique Ellis finished eighth, as did the 4x400 Meter Relay team of
Tatyanna Myrie,
Arianna Myrie,
London Lee, and Fernandes.
Mitchell, who was named to the SIAC All-Conference Team in the 3,000 meters, the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters, has the fifth-best time of all SIAC women in the 1,500 meters and is No. 1 in the 5,000 and 10,000.
Ariane Stubbs is ninth in the 3,000. Three Lady Panthers –
Tatyanna Myrie,
Arianna Myrie and Salters – are in the top 10 in the 400 meter hurdles. Carter is top 10 hammer throw, as is the 4x400 meter and 4x100 meter relay teams.
This weekend, Page said leading the Lady Panthers charge will be "Sophomore
Kierra King, who will be competing in the heptathlon in addition to three other open events,
Dazya Mitchell who will be competing in everything from the 1,500 meters up to the 10,000 meter run, and then our relay teams and a couple of other individuals who will be helping out."
