AUBURN, Ala. – After achieving three of the nation's top marks in the men's high jump, heptathlon and distance medley relay last weekend at the Vanderbilt Invite, the Auburn track and field team look to continue its strong performance at the Texas Tech Open & Multis meet this weekend.
The three-day meet will be held Thursday through Saturday at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas. Action will begin Thursday at 12 p.m. CT with the 60M dash in the men heptathlon, Friday at 3 p.m. with the women's weight throw and men's pole vault, and Saturday at 10 a.m. with the women's shot put.
"This is the week that we are targeting to really solidly ourselves nationally with the men's and women's sprints," Tigers head coach Leroy Burrell said. "We are off to a really great start, and I am happy with what our athletes have done over the last couple weeks."
In the latest USTFCCCA coaches' poll, the Auburn men's team is ranked No.6 nationally and No.1 in the south region, while the women's team is No.21 nationally and No.8 in the south region after bringing home 40 new personal best marks last weekend.
Leading the way for the Tigers in Nashville was senior Dontavious Hill in the men's high jump. Hill won the competition clearing 2.21m/7-3 to equal a new indoor personal best while posting the No. 2 clearance nationally.
Another strong performance came by way of junior John Murray in the men's heptathlon. Murray set five new personal best marks across seven events, including his overall points total of 5624. Besting his previous personal best by more than 150 points, Murray is No. 3 nationally as well as No. 3 on Auburn's all-time performers list. Joining Murray in the men's heptathlon this weekend will be All-American and 2022 Indoor SEC Championship runner-up, Alex Spyridonidis.
Heavy hitters making the trip to Texas for the Tigers will be senior Kyle Brown, Hill, and Spyridonidis, Murray, sophomore Favour Ashe, freshman Jeremy Zammit.
In the field events, Brown ranks No. 4 in the conference with his mark of 21.84m/71-8 in the men's weight throw from the UW Oshkosh Early Bird Invite. In the men's long jump, Zammit currently leads the SEC and is No. 7 in the NCAA with his mark of 7.84m/25-8.75 from his collegiate debut at the Clemson Invite.
The sprints star in Ashe looks to continue his dominance in the 60M dash alongside Azeem Fahmi in his Auburn debut. Ashe ranks No. 1 in the SEC and No. 4 in the NCAA in the event with a time of 6.57 set at the Clemson Invite two weeks ago.
On the women's side, senior Muara Huwalt and Madi Malone, freshman Chante Clinkscale, Arianna Sharpe, and Alyssa Quinones-Mixon will be back in action for the Tigers this weekend.
Huwalt will return to the circle in the shot put where she ranks No. 2 in the conference and No. 5 in the NCAA with her mark of 17.29m/56-8.75, as well as in the weight throw where she ranks No. 6 in the SEC with her mark of 20.67m/67-9.75. All-American Malone, currently No. 4 in the SEC and No. 11 in the NCAA, will also be competing in the weight throw competition.
Quinones-Mixon will take the runway again for the first time after her successful collegiate debut setting the freshman record in the pole vault with a mark of 4.05m/13-3.5 at the Clemson Invite. This mark currently ranks her sixth in the SEC.
Las week's SEC Freshman Runner of the Week, Sharpe, will be back on the track in the 400M dash in Lubbock. Sharpe's time of 53.01 ranks No. 3 in the SEC and No. 5 in the NCAA. Fellow sprinter in Clinkscale will race for the second time in an Auburn uniform in the 60M and 200M dash where she ranks inside the top-20 in both events in the SEC and NCAA.
Joining the Tigers this weekend will be host Texas Tech, Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas.
Live results for the meet can be found at https://pttiming.com and the live stream of the event can be found at ESPN.com.
