Jan. 17, 2015
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Auburn track and field team collected three individual wins and one relay win on Saturday as it opened the 2015 indoor season at the Auburn Invitational at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
"I like the fight I saw today," head coach Ralph Spry said. "We had a really good attitude and I am pleased with our effort. We had a couple of freshmen step it up in Jakayla Hand and Jonielle Smith, and Ebony Morrison and Teray Smith ran really well. DJ Smith and Shawn Johnson jumped really well today, and Brianna Heilsnis had a very good PR. We had some good distance races, including our distance medley relay, so overall I feel pretty good. It was a good first meet for us as we head to Vanderbilt next weekend."
Junior Shawn Johnson began the meet by winning the long jump title with a distance of 23-10.75/7.28m in his first career meet as a Tiger. In the women's triple jump, Opelika, Ala., native Jakayla Hand won with a distance of 40-0.5/12.20m.
Senior DJ Smith tied for the top collegiate spot in the high jump with a clearance of 7-0.25/2.14m, and the men's distance medley team of Francis Hernandez, Tyler Ross, Wesley Curles and Ty McCormack defeated LSU by over five seconds to claim the DMR title at 10:01.21.
In the women's 60m hurdles, sophomore Ebony Morrison was runner-up with a time of 8.38, which is the nation's eighth-fastest time heading into the weekend. Sophomore Sashel Brown finished sixth in the event at 8.63. Sophomore SheKara Martin placed sixth in the women's 60m final at 7.52.
Morrison and Martin recorded top-5 finishes in the 200m as Morrison clocked a 24.19 and Martin ran a 24.30 to finish third and fourth, respectively.
Sophomore Emily Stevens recorded a third place finish in the mile with a time of 4:52.70, while junior Jessie Johnson recorded a clearance of 12-7.5/3.85m in the pole vault. Sophomore Brianna Heilsnis recorded a new personal best in the weight throw, with a distance of 56-1/17.09m to finish third.
Sophomore Teray Smith opened the season with a pair of top-5 finishes in the 60m and 200m. The Freeport, Bahamas, native ran a personal-best 6.74 in the 60m to finish third and clocked a 21.32 to finish fourth in the 200.
Senior Kane Grimster ran a 4:05.78 in the mile to place fifth as fellow senior Ty McCormack finished sixth at 4:07.26. In the 3000m, senior Griffin Jaworski finished fourth at 8:24.95 and junior Redatu Semeon set a new personal best with a time of 8:25.83 to finish sixth.
The Tigers will return to action January 23-24 at the Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville, Tenn.
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