Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
NOTEBOOK: Track & Field wins six events in final tune-up ahead of C-USA Championships
5/1/2023 4:03:00 PM | General, Men's Basketball, Men's Tennis, Softball, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee Track and Field is peaking at the right time, hitting a plethora of personal bests at the Music City Invitational this weekend while taking home six gold medals.
Four male athletes — Alaba Akintola (100m and 200m), Stephen Eloji (110m Hurdles and 400m Hurdles), Carmelo Cannizzaro (3000m Steeplechase) and Vincent Yegon (5000m) — all took first place against athletes from a variety of area schools, including Vanderbilt, Belmont, Western Kentucky and Marshall.
The gold medal was elusive for the women over the weekend, but the Blue Raiders still had several standout podium performances, including Esther Isa's second place in the long jump, a third place PRs from Leonie Beu in the 200m and 400m and a second place PR for Faith Nyathi in the 5000m.
"Great weekend at Vanderbilt!" Head Coach Keith Vroman said. "Both men's and women's teams competed at a high level on the track. We were firing on all cylinders with a personal or season best in just about every race."
MTSU Track & Field will take the week off ahead of next week's C-USA Championships in Denton, Texas.
Alston signs with Men's Basketball
The Blue Raiders added another weapon to their 2023-24 roster over the weekend, signing 6-8 forward Torey Alston out of Winston-Salem Christian in Winston-Salem, N.C.
This is an exciting one for me personally, with Winston-Salem being my own hometown! Alston originally signed with incoming C-USA member Sam Houston State, before a coaching change this offseason led to him decommitting, allowing Nick McDevitt and his staff a chance to connect with the lanky, athletic forward.
As the staff later found out. Torey's dad, Mike Alston, played for Boots Donnelly on the football team in the 1980s at MTSU. Excited to welcome him to Murfreesboro soon!
In case you didn't know...now you know
Eagled-eyed Blue Raider fans might've spotted him already in some of our office's offseason content of men's basketball's workouts, but I wanted to let the man himself make the announcement before I confirmed it for y'all.
Elias King is officially returning to Murfreesboro for his fifth season of college basketball after a brief (and well reported) trip into the transfer portal. Goes without saying that you don't find many guys at his size who can shoot like King can. Combine that with the focus he says he's bringing to offseason workouts and it's a great bit of new for Blue Raiders everywhere.
"I want to improve my body more, my jumping ability, my defense and rebounding," King told GoBlueRaiders.com. "Everything starts in the summer. If you lift hard, you run hard, you get up as many shots possible, listen to the staff...we should be able to dominate the conference."
Softball claims 12th C-USA win of 2023, most in program history in C-USA
It was a blast being out at Blue Raider Softball Field this weekend, as MTSU ended its home season with a sweep of UTSA to secure the most wins ever in C-USA play in program history.
Gretchen Mead and Kamryn Carcich combined to allow just three runs all weekend in the circle, while MTSU's trademark speed and power made the difference on offense.
MTSU will travel to North Texas this weekend for their final C-USA series, then will head to Ruston, La. to start postseason play in the Conference USA Tournament.
Men's Tennis Selection Show is tonight!
If you're reading this right as this notebook gets out today, you might have a little bit of time to make it down to Happy's Sports Lounge on W. Main Street here in Murfreesboro!
While head coach Jimmy Borendame is with the selection committee helping place all 64 teams into the field, Assistant Coach Andrea Caligiana and the Blue Raiders will be there to learn where their NCAA Tournament journey will start.
In the meantime, check out the progress being made on the on-campus Tennis Facility, now named the Allen Tennis Building, after a generous donation from MTSU alum and owner and CEO of the e.Allen clothing boutique, Elizabeth Allen, as Allen and MTSU announced last week.
Good Luck on Exams, Blue Raiders!
One of the many things I love about working in college athletics is the ebb and flow of the school year. It's an important bit of context to know that this week, for instance, is the exam period here at MTSU. All of the student athletes you cheer on the field, read about on this website and follow on social media are all studying, taking exams, presenting final projects and all the other milestones that come with the end of the semester.
The spring semester, of course, is particularly good at giving me this reminder, given that so many of these athletes will get a short chance to visit home before heading back to Murfreesboro in a few weeks' time for the beginning of summer workouts. Things might be quieting down some here in the Murphy Center, but they'll be back in full swing before I know it.
So, for now, I'll leave with this: Good luck on your exams Blue Raiders!
Four male athletes — Alaba Akintola (100m and 200m), Stephen Eloji (110m Hurdles and 400m Hurdles), Carmelo Cannizzaro (3000m Steeplechase) and Vincent Yegon (5000m) — all took first place against athletes from a variety of area schools, including Vanderbilt, Belmont, Western Kentucky and Marshall.
The gold medal was elusive for the women over the weekend, but the Blue Raiders still had several standout podium performances, including Esther Isa's second place in the long jump, a third place PRs from Leonie Beu in the 200m and 400m and a second place PR for Faith Nyathi in the 5000m.
"Great weekend at Vanderbilt!" Head Coach Keith Vroman said. "Both men's and women's teams competed at a high level on the track. We were firing on all cylinders with a personal or season best in just about every race."
MTSU Track & Field will take the week off ahead of next week's C-USA Championships in Denton, Texas.
Last night's RCA's was a success! 🏆
— MT XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) April 28, 2023
Congrats to Abigail Kwarteng on winning Female Athlete of the Year!#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/76RvDubJJS
Alston signs with Men's Basketball
The Blue Raiders added another weapon to their 2023-24 roster over the weekend, signing 6-8 forward Torey Alston out of Winston-Salem Christian in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Committed🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/8KNtr0OJ2V
— Torey Alston (@alston_torey) May 1, 2023
This is an exciting one for me personally, with Winston-Salem being my own hometown! Alston originally signed with incoming C-USA member Sam Houston State, before a coaching change this offseason led to him decommitting, allowing Nick McDevitt and his staff a chance to connect with the lanky, athletic forward.
As the staff later found out. Torey's dad, Mike Alston, played for Boots Donnelly on the football team in the 1980s at MTSU. Excited to welcome him to Murfreesboro soon!
In case you didn't know...now you know
Eagled-eyed Blue Raider fans might've spotted him already in some of our office's offseason content of men's basketball's workouts, but I wanted to let the man himself make the announcement before I confirmed it for y'all.
Let's run it back in the glasshouse glad to say I'll be staying at MTSU💙 @MT_MBB pic.twitter.com/scargmqogf
— Elias king (@Eliasking15) May 1, 2023
Elias King is officially returning to Murfreesboro for his fifth season of college basketball after a brief (and well reported) trip into the transfer portal. Goes without saying that you don't find many guys at his size who can shoot like King can. Combine that with the focus he says he's bringing to offseason workouts and it's a great bit of new for Blue Raiders everywhere.
"I want to improve my body more, my jumping ability, my defense and rebounding," King told GoBlueRaiders.com. "Everything starts in the summer. If you lift hard, you run hard, you get up as many shots possible, listen to the staff...we should be able to dominate the conference."
Return of the King! https://t.co/PPMYzKYvgI
— MT Basketball (@MT_MBB) May 1, 2023
Softball claims 12th C-USA win of 2023, most in program history in C-USA
It was a blast being out at Blue Raider Softball Field this weekend, as MTSU ended its home season with a sweep of UTSA to secure the most wins ever in C-USA play in program history.
Gretchen Mead and Kamryn Carcich combined to allow just three runs all weekend in the circle, while MTSU's trademark speed and power made the difference on offense.
MTSU will travel to North Texas this weekend for their final C-USA series, then will head to Ruston, La. to start postseason play in the Conference USA Tournament.
Men's Tennis Selection Show is tonight!
If you're reading this right as this notebook gets out today, you might have a little bit of time to make it down to Happy's Sports Lounge on W. Main Street here in Murfreesboro!
While head coach Jimmy Borendame is with the selection committee helping place all 64 teams into the field, Assistant Coach Andrea Caligiana and the Blue Raiders will be there to learn where their NCAA Tournament journey will start.
Come and join us at Happy's Sports Lounge at 5 PM on Monday for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show!#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/bfnbXqLZeZ
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) April 30, 2023
In the meantime, check out the progress being made on the on-campus Tennis Facility, now named the Allen Tennis Building, after a generous donation from MTSU alum and owner and CEO of the e.Allen clothing boutique, Elizabeth Allen, as Allen and MTSU announced last week.
We 👀 some progress at our on-campus tennis facility this morning!#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/17erY5z1xW
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) May 1, 2023
MTSU alum and owner and CEO of the e.Allen clothing boutique, Elizabeth Allen, is making the largest gift to-date towards the new on-campus outdoor @MT_WomensTennis & @MT_MensTennis facility.https://t.co/YZNZQaWt5P
— MT Athletics (@MTAthletics) April 28, 2023
Good Luck on Exams, Blue Raiders!
One of the many things I love about working in college athletics is the ebb and flow of the school year. It's an important bit of context to know that this week, for instance, is the exam period here at MTSU. All of the student athletes you cheer on the field, read about on this website and follow on social media are all studying, taking exams, presenting final projects and all the other milestones that come with the end of the semester.
The spring semester, of course, is particularly good at giving me this reminder, given that so many of these athletes will get a short chance to visit home before heading back to Murfreesboro in a few weeks' time for the beginning of summer workouts. Things might be quieting down some here in the Murphy Center, but they'll be back in full swing before I know it.
So, for now, I'll leave with this: Good luck on your exams Blue Raiders!
Psssst.
— MTSU News (@MTSUNews) April 28, 2023
Hey, #MTSU.
You KNOW what you've accomplished already.
You got this. 💪🫡#aintnothinbutfinalsyall #goodluck #TrueBlue #spring2023 pic.twitter.com/qbTWw8bvrI
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Softball
Jumps
/ Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
G
/ Men's Basketball
/ Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
RHP
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