The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s and women’s track teams will open the outdoor season in Tuscaloosa, Ala., this weekend to compete in the John Mitchell Alabama Relays at the Sam Bailey Track and Field Complex.
Friday night’s running events for Chattanooga will begin with the women’s 1500 meter run with freshman Emily Drouin (Veronica, Ontario).
She will be in the second of three heats. In heat three of the event will be sophomore Anna Kate Chance (Columbia, Tenn.) and junior Keeley Stewart (Winchester, Tenn.).
The women’s 5000 meter run will close the track event for the Mocs on Friday headlined by sophomore Teghan Henderson (Pickering, Ontario) who was named the SoCon Freshman of the Year in last season’s outdoor championships. The cross country All-American has the top qualifying time of 16:30.09, but has battled injury throughout the year.
Joining her in the first heat will be senior Amanda Cotter (Bristol, Conn.) while sophomores Chance and Katie Ray (Knoxville, Tenn.) will run the second heat. In the men’s race, sophomore Paul Stuart (Brentwood, Tenn.) will run the top heat for the men while Austin Ethridge (Signal Mtn., Tenn.) and Zack Darby (Knoxville, Tenn.) are slated to compete in the second heat.
Friday’s field events will feature high jumper Nicole Sumeda (Chattanooga, Tenn.). Her first track competition was at the SoCon indoor championships where she scored for the Mocs in the event with a jump of 1.57 meters.
“This is a big meet,” UTC head coach Bill Gautier said. “It’s exciting and there will be around 75 universities at this. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.”
Saturday will feature the men’s and women’s Distance Medley Relay teams. Sophomore Austin Casassa (Nashville, Tenn.) will lead off with the 1200 meter and hand off to junior Geoff Nelson (Brentwood, Tenn.) who will run the 400 meter leg. Junior Marquis Carter (Memphis, Tenn.) will take over for the 800 meter while junior Trevor Janssen (Jordan Station, Ontario) will run the anchor leg, the 1600 meter.
In the women’s race freshman Hannah Chamblin (Memphis, Tenn.) will run the lead leg, the 1200 meter with junior Kiaana Howard (Nashville, Tenn.) running the 400 meter leg. She will hand off to sophomore Jessica York (Normandy, Tenn.) for the 800 meter with sophomore Maddison Melchionna (Afton, Tenn.) anchoring the race with the 1600 meter.
Freshman Drake Watson (Gallatin, Tenn.) will run the men’s 110 meter Hurdles and senior John Gilpin (Nashville, Tenn.) will compete in the 3000 meter Steeplechase. The 800 meter run will feature junior Rebecca Greenwall (Bogart, Ga.) in the third heat while juniors Helenka Kis (Columbia, Tenn.) and Makala Diggs (Box Elder, S.D.) will face off in the fourth heat. In the men’s 800 meter run, senior Patrick O’Brien (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and junior Matthew Marshall (Signal Mtn., Tenn.) will run the third heat.