PSC Track Growing By Leaps and Bounds

By Tyrone Blanks

Contributor

Jonesboro, AR—-As the 2018 Indoor Track and Field competition is in high gear nationally for major colleges, small colleges, and those in between nationally, Philander Smith College is fielding its first-ever competitive Men's and Women's squad as one of several invitees to the Arkansas State Indoor Invitational at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro. Among the participants were teams from Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Baptist College, Rhodes College and Christian Brothers University from Memphis, TN, McNeese State, Grambling University, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana Lafayette, Tennessee Martin, and a host of other well-known programs around the mid-south readying themselves for the Indoor Championships in February.

While neither Panther squad had any finishes in the top-10 in any of the events entered, that did not stop their Head Coach Chris McConnell and his platoon from beaming with excitement about what could be in the very near future.

"I think the athletes are excited, and we believe the Philander Smith program is ready to be formidable in the conference and among the top-three in both the men and women's division for the championship. Our program has been blessed. We started out with zero athletes when I came in last year before the Outdoor season and entered a couple of outings with four runners. Now, our programs is upwards of 30 strong as we have continued to grow and progress over the last 12 months. Our times are getting faster, and we are getting stronger. We are developing and maturing as athletes on the collegiate-level," he said.

The results from the Panthers' first outing of the 2018 Indoor season were devastating as the lack of strength, explosiveness, and endurance proved to be lacking against the more seasoned athletes. However, in less than 30 days, both squads fielded participants who made a heck of a showing before turning their training and attention to the opening of the Outdoor season, mostly by freshmen across the board.

"Our fist outing was against some extremely stout competition was incredibly humbling and showed us that there was much work to be done to elevate our program to the level we are striving to reach," said McConnell. "Today was a rare opportunity for our teams to compete and succeed against some of the very best athletes in this part of the country," he said. Santerrius Booker held his own running in fourth place for approximately two-thirds of his mile event before finishing 9th in his heat and 27th out of 36 overall with. Time of 4:49.86. In the women's division, freshman Alexia O'Neal finished her run in the Mile race in 8:18, which was good for 11th in her section, and 17th out of 19 overall. Zora Talbert (SO/Marion, AR) finished 18th in the women's 800 meter run; followed by fellow freshmen Daylon Sims and Damien Gatson the men's 400 meter run in 54 and 55 seconds, respectively. Others with positive showings were Noel Lyons and Aquann Williams, the schools first female Shot Putter.

Now, the Panthers turn their attention to more intense strength and conditioning training as their next outing begins on March 10, 2018 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

For complete coverage of Philander Smith College Men's and Women's Track, please follow @PSCAthletics1 on Twitter and Philander Athletics on Facebook. You can also find up-to-date information on all things Philander Smith Athletics at www.philanderathletics.com.