Blue Raiders Shine in a Rainy Start to Tennessee Relays

4/8/2022 7:56:00 PM | Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country

By: Braydin Sik, MT Athletic Communications

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Blue Raider women's and men's track and field teams completed their first day of the Tennessee Relays on Friday including the newly implemented Power Hour. The cold, rainy, and windy day one of the meet included 10 top-five finishes for the Blue Raiders.

The freshman Alaba Akintola continues to light up the track universe this time battling through tough weather conditions to take first in both events competed in. To start the day off Akintola took first in the 100m dash with a time of 10.27 seconds, good enough for second in the conference heading into this weekend. Later on in the day, Alaba took first in the men's 200m dash Power Hour with a time of 21.04 seconds, only .05 seconds away from the best mark in C-USA.

Nope, this video isn't sped up.

Neither rain nor wind were going to stop @Akintolaalaba1 from taking 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙎𝙏 in the 200m dash at the Tennessee Relays' Power Hour! 🥇#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/CdWdoN5CdC
— MT XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) April 8, 2022

The women's high jump squad of Abigail Kwarteng and Esther Isa got to jump together for the first time, leading to great things for the Blue Raiders. In the women's high jump Kwarteng and Isa hit marks of 1.83m and 1.71m taking first and third respectively. Kwarteng's jump would be second in the conference to herself, and Isa's mark would rank in the top five in conference.

Freshman Stephen Eloji took first in the men's 400m hurdles with a time of 53.92 seconds. Eloji's time would rank second in the nation heading into the weekend. On the women's side of the 400m hurdles, Glory Nyenke took first with a time of 1:03.67.

Eusila Chepkemei and Brian Rono both competed in the 800m Power Hour. Chepkemei took fourth with a time of 2:09.55, good enough for first in conference heading into the weekend. Rono also took fourth place with a final time of 1:51.66 which is also good enough for first in C-USA heading into the weekend.

Benjamin Onyekwelu set a new outdoor personal-best length with 7.53m in the men's long jump Power Hour. Onyekwelu's mark would rank second in the conference heading into the weekend. On the other side of the long jump Power Hour, Lyn'Nikka Vance took third with an outdoor-personal best mark of 5.88m. 5.88m would be a top-five mark in C-USA heading into the weekend.

What's next for the Blue Raiders?
The Middle Tennessee track and field team will continue the Tennessee Relays tomorrow with men's high jump and women's triple jump kicking things off at 12:00 p.m. CT.

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