Raiders Open Indoor Slate at Vanderbilt Opener

Saturday, December 2

Nashville, Tenn.

Middle Tennessee

Vanderbilt Opener

12/1/2017 3:00:00 PM | Track & Field/Cross Country

By: Brendan English, Athletic Communications Assistant

Live Stats

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee men and women's track and field team are set to open their season at the Vanderbilt Opener this weekend. The competition will be hosted in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday, December 2nd.

Action from the Vanderbilt Rec Center will start at 10:00a.m. with field events. Freshman Troy Valdary, Senior Qetuwrah Abdullah-Muhammad and Senior Elizabeth Dadzie start the day off for the Blue Raiders with the men and women's high jump before competing in the long jump.

On the track, freshman Lauren Epps along with Muhammad and Dadzie seek to get off to a good start to their season in the women's 60-meter hurdles. Freshman Braam Bisschop will represent the men in the 60-meter hurdle event.

Likewise, sophomore Ida Mensah, freshman Mirlege Castor, senior Janet Amponsah, and freshman Cecelia Francis will make their season start in the 60-meter dash. On the men's side, junior Chaz Simmons and freshman Lamarco Petty will represent the Blue Raiders in the 60-meter dash.

The team will return to the field mid-afternoon for the final field events of the day. Freshman Jasmeen Phillips and senior duo Abdullah-Muhammad and Dadzie will compete in the shot put event. Similarly, Valdary will cap the field events with the men's triple jump.

MT's junior Rachel Kigen and sophomore Julia Jelaget will open the distance events on the track competing in the one mile run. On the men's side, sophomore Jacob Choge, freshman Vincent Kibet and Kigen Chemadi will represent the men in the one-mile event.

Senior Loveth Odia, junior Joycely Assafuah, Dadzie, and Amponsah will run in the 400-meter dash while, senior Adeniji Adedamola, senior Ifiok Umoh, senior Solomon Afful, freshman Jaquez Torian, sophomore Randy Davidson, and freshman Michael Stewart will represent the men in the event.

Similarly, Egbeniyi, Abu, and Kigen will compete for the gold in the women's 800-meter event while Acevedo, Mack, and Sanders will compete for the men.

12 Blue Raiders will compete in the 200-meter event before sophomore Gladys Kipchumba, sophomore Sharon Kibwott, freshman Vincent Kibet and sophomore Alan Bowers round off the individual events for the day in the 3000-meter event.

The Blue Raiders finish the day at the Vanderbilt Opener competing in the men and women's 4 x 400-meter relay.

Last Time Out: Indoor and Outdoor Seasons

The team enters the competition after appearing in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon last season. Middle Tennessee returns sophomore Jacob Choge to the field who recorded a 14th place finish in the 10,000 meter (29:25.64) and a 21st place finish in the 5,000 meter race (14:55.95).

Similarly, senior Agnes Abu and junior Abike Egbeniyi return for Middle Tennessee after both recording top-15 performances in the 800 meter run, earning All-American honors in Eugene, Oregon last season.

Last indoor season, sophomore Sampson Laari and Egbeniyi grabbed All-American honors during the final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas. Laari clocked a 4:06.11 in the men's mile to finish third while Egbeniyi notched an eighth place finish in the women's 800-meter run (2:06.86).