ETSU aims to repeat last season’s impressive performances in Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (April 9, 2014) – The ETSU track & field program will continue the 2014 outdoor season with a short trip west to the University of Tennessee to compete in the Tennessee Relays presented by Sea Ray, Thursday – Saturday, at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium.

This appearance at the Relays will be ETSU’s third since 2010, with the most recent being last season.

The beat continues on for the Buccaneers’ track & field program which enters competition for the fourth-consecutive week. Last weekend, ETSU sent 11 student-athletes to the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla. where a couple new ETSU records were set.

On the women’s side, junior Dede Edgecombe (Spartanburg, S.C.) led the Buccaneers’ charge with an ETSU record 13.53 time in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. This record-breaking time by the sprinter surpassed the previous record she established in the event of 13.63 at the Charlotte 49er Classic on March 21.

For the men, freshman field performer Brett Squibbs (Rock Hill, S.C.) sustained his impressive rookie season by continuing to rewrite the ETSU men’s pole vault record book with a new school-best outdoor mark of 5.10 meters. Squibbs has now set new ETSU records on multiple occasions during his young career including setting the school’s high mark in the event during the indoor season.

Last season in Knoxville, the Bucs had a number of impressive performances amongst their participating student-athletes. Now sophomore Verena Tobis (Hechingen, Germany) set a then personal best in the women’s discus throw with a toss of 44.56 meters to finish first in the event.

Veteran Katerina Vodova (Humpolec, Czech Republic) continued the momentum in the field for the women with a then personal-high 5.91 leap in the long jump to take the event’s top spot.

In addition, in the field, fellow veteran Tyler Stepp (Dandridge, Tenn.), too, placed first in the long jump, on the men’s side, with a collegiate-best leap of 7.80 meters.

Action at LaPorte Stadium will kick-off on Thursday with 10,000 meter runs for both the men and women at around 9 a.m., following with just the men’s and women’s hammer throw beginning at 4 p.m.

Competition will continue on Friday with a day chock-full of events. Collegiate running events will commence at around 1 p.m. with the women’s 100 meter hurdles, before ending with 5,000 meter runs at around 9 p.m. The day’s field events, too, will begin at around 1 p.m. with the men’s discus, and will wrap up with the men’s shot put at 6:30 p.m.

The final day of competition at the Relays will begin on Saturday with the women’s invite discus throw at 11 a.m., while running events will begin at noon with the men’s and women’s 3K steeplechase. Action will continue throughout the day and into the night as men’s and women’s 4x400 meter relay events will conclude competition in Knoxville at around 6:30 p.m.

Meet information and schedules for the Tennessee Relays presented by Sea Ray can be accessed by visiting UTSports.com, while live results can be viewed at AdkinsTrak.com. Complete recaps of ETSU’s performances each day will be available at ETSUBucs.com.

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