BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The App State women's track and field team finished competition at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships on Tuesday, placing fourth in the team standings with 70.33 points. Tuesday's action saw a second school record fall as well as four podium finishes on the day.
The women's 4x400-meter relay quartet of juniors
Nicole Wells and
Jayla Adams, sophomore
Ja'Naya Linder, and senior
Damyja Alejandro-Ortiz recorded a new program record with a time of 3:41.81, placing third overall on Tuesday. The previous record of 3:43.85 was set at the 2023 SBC Indoor Championships by Mariah Atwater, Jada Branch, Hunter Robinson, and Jelonnie Smith. Individually Adams and Alejandro-Ortiz rounded out the top five in the women's 400-meter finals with times of 55.36 and 55.60, respectively. Adams' personal best elevated her to third in the App State all-time list.
Senior
Ava Studney garnered gold after clearing a bar of 4.08m (13' 4.5") in the women's pole vault. Her mark moved her to second outright in the all-time list. Studney is the Mountaineers' first Sun Belt indoor women's pole vault champion since App State joined the league, as well as the first conference women's indoor pole vault champion since Cassie Crawford in 2011. Joining Studney on the podium was sophomore
Lilly Nichols, who earned bronze with a clearance of 3.88m (12' 8.75").
Junior
Kendall Johnson, who reset the App State women's 60-meter record with a time of 7.32 to place first in Monday's prelims, secured silver in the women's 60-meter final with a time of 7.36. Johnson went on to place sixth with a time of 24.17 in the women's 200 meters, followed by Alejandro-Ortiz, who placed eighth with a time of 25.21.
With a leap of 12.39m (40' 7.75"),
Alana Braxton landed fourth in the women's triple jump. App State also saw a fourth-place finish from senior
Addison Ollendick-Smith in the women's 800-meter final with a time of 2:16.21. Freshman
Josie Jackson, who had advanced to the final with Ollendick-Smith, placed seventh overall. Ollendick-Smith and Jackson had appeared on the podium alongside sophomores
Savannah Moore and
Micayla Collins, as the quartet finished third in Monday's distance medley relay with a program record of 11:50.84. Moore and freshman
Tessa Massa placed fifth (4:54.52) and sixth (4:55.82), respectively, in the women's mile finals. The duo rose to sixth and eighth, respectively in the App State all-time list.
In the women's high jump, freshman
Ashlynn Wimberly scored for the Black and Gold, tying for eighth with a clearance of 1.66m (5' 5.25"). Additionally, sophomore
Emily Edwards placed eighth in the women's shot put with a personal best toss of 13.79m (45' 3"). Her mark elevated her to tenth in the App State all-time list, above current throws coach
Whitney Smyre's top 10 mark of 13.75m (45' 1.5') from 2011. She had also placed eighth in the women's weight throw on Monday with a toss of 16.86m (55' 3.75"), scoring the Mountaineers' first point of the championship meet.
Up Next
Select Mountaineers will compete at the USATF Indoor Championships in Staten Island, NY on Feb. 28 – March 1.
The App State men's and women's track teams will open the outdoor season at the Myrtle Beach Collegiate Challenge in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Women's Team Standings | Final
1.Texas State – 126.5 points
2. Louisiana – 81 points
3. Coastal Carolina – 71 points
4. App State – 70.33 points
5. South Alabama – 53.33 points
6. Georgia Southern – 52.83 points
7. Southern Miss – 50 points
8. Marshall – 39 points
9. Georgia State – 37 points
10. Arkansas State – 34 points
11. James Madison – 22 points
12. Troy – 19 points
13. ULM – 5 points
