Ivanna Sabino, Staff Writer
Kevin Kim, Editor
BEREA, KY-
Friday and Saturday, March 15th and 16th, will start the Mountaineers off as their outdoor season opener. The Rhodes Invitational in Memphis, TN will showcase all the new and seasoned athletes of Berea College. This year will be an exciting year, as it is the first official year that the USA South recognizes Track & Field, where Berea College will be hosting the Conference Championship on April 15th – 16th. Other relevant dates and meet information can be found from this link: http://bereaathletics.com/sports/wtrack/2018-19/schedule. Last year the Women's Track and Field team made a great impression on the competition and ended by winning the Atlantic Independent Championships.
As we welcome new athletes every year, we are always sad to have to see some go, and a few major loses for Berea were seniors Cassie McFadden, Erin Gonterman, and Kierra Moore. Some of the athletes we can look forward to seeing again in action this season are sophomore Khatriah Malik, juniors Kaylee Robinson and Maya Riddles, and senior Dove DeNigris. For a full list of the athletes competing this season follow the link: http://bereaathletics.com/sports/wtrack/2018-19/roster.
Some events and athletes to watch this season are: The 4x100 team. They look to aim for a national mark with the addition of Jada Harper and Leta Heigley. Junior Kaylee Robinson will look to lower her outdoor 400m record coming off a very strong indoor season. Sophomore Khatriah Malik also looks to break some records in the sprinting events this spring. Adding Freshman Jada Harper into the lineup is huge, with her being one of the top sprinters to come out of the state of Tennessee. Freshman Leta Heigley is someone that can get it done anywhere on the track, so watch for her to score a lot at the conference meet this spring. Junior thrower Maya Riddles will be looking to improve from last year as well as chase the hammer record. We return almost all of our USA South XC champion distance women so they will be fun to watch as well.
Head coach Shawn Jakubowski has some positive thoughts about moving forward: "We have added a few very key athletes to the roster this season. We will be well represented in all the track and field disciplines. We are aiming to bring home the USA South Conference Championship in April! This could be one of the best year's Berea has had in track and field!"
Best of luck to our Mountaineers as they begin their season!