TOWSON, MD. – This weekend, the Towson University women's indoor track and field team has a busy schedule ahead of them.

On Friday and Saturday, some of the Tigers will be participating in the Penn State National in Pennsylvania.

Also on Saturday, the team will split as some of the Tigers will compete in the Navy Invitational at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis, Maryland.

After seeing a personal record last week, Phontavia Sawyer's upcoming meets raise nothing but excitement for what is to come next.

"If I threw a major PR, I would be jumping and smiling with so much joy," said Sawyer. "That is because we all know what we can do and achieve but when we actual reach those goals it just feels so amazing."

"Moving forward I expect to reach a mark that I feel as though I know everything technique and length wise was perfect," said Sawyer.

"Both of those together would allow me to have my furthers throw, and hopefully that would be the throw to get me to nationals (fingers crossed)."

Every year, Towson looks forward to competing at Penn State because so many teams are there and it always gives the Tigers a chance to set more goals and continue raising the bar.

"Going into this meet, I'm excited to compete because there is going to be great competition competing," said Sawyer.

"Also, my coach's former coach will be there, so the pressure is on. When the pressure is on, I'd like to think that's when my best throw prevails."

About the Meets-Penn State National
At least 31 teams are competing this year at the meet which includes men and women. The meet can be streamed on FloTrack.com. On Friday, action begins at 12:00 p.m. with the pentathlon, then field events start at 4 p.m. On Saturday, events begin at 10:45 a.m.
 
Last Time Out
The Tigers competed at the two-day Virginia Tech Invitational. On day one, Crystal Johnson broke the school record in the 60-meter dash and Liz Reid broke the school record in the 300-meter run. Helnsarah Penda advanced to the 60-meter hurdle finals with a qualifying time of 8.87 seconds. Olivia Janke finished in second in the 3000-meter (10:13.25).
 
On day two, Sawyer came in first place in the shot put with a throw of 14.68 meters. Shamika Burton finished in fourth in the long jump jumping 5.49 meters. The 4x400 meter relay team of Reid, Arianna Waller, Penda and Shelby Francis came in fifth place with a time of 3:53.16. 
 
Student-Spotlight
Each week, Towson showcases the student-athletes in a brief video on Twitter and Towson Sports Network. The spotlight is to promote and highlight the student-athletes accomplishments on and off the court/field and in the classroom. On Thursday, Jan. 17 the spotlight was on junior Victoria Jones-Alleyne, who in addition to being on the track team works with special need kids over the summer premiered. To watch, click the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHQ319lBnlw
 
Tigers after Towson
Over the summer, Towson University learned that recent graduate Megan Kelly joined the USA Olympic Bobsledding team. Kelly was a part of the track and field team all four years at Towson, competing in both indoor and outdoor seasons. Most recently, she broke the outdoor record in the 4x400-meter relay and 400-meter hurdles. She was nominated and won Towson Strength and Conditioning award, won the Towson Senior Achievement award and won the Towson SGA Leadership in Athletic Award. She was Student Athlete of the Year in 2017 too.
 
Setting School Records

• Crystal Johnson has set a new school record in the 60m dash with a time of 7.57 at Virginia Tech.
• Liz Reid set a new school record at the Virginia Tech Invitational in the 300 with a time of 39.16.

 
Tigers in the Community

• Towson is the Division I national champion of the NCAA Team Works Helper Helper Competition for the fall 2018 semester. Towson completed the most community service hours among all schools in the competition, including 75 different Division I departments and approximately 300 total programs across the country.
• Five student-athletes are participating in the Polar Bear Plunge tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 25 to help raise money for the Special Olympics.
• The team helped with serving food in the Tiger Zone during the James Madison football game on Nov. 18.
• Orchestrated by Reid, the elementary education major had the Tigers go to Logan Elementary School on Oct. 12 along with the cross country team to talk to the students about attending college. "I was able to co-organize a student athlete assembly for the 5th graders and it was awesome to have the team come get involved in the community," said Reid.

 
Coverage
Penn State National: Fans can stream the events at https://www.flotrack.org/live/10484-2019-penn-state-national-open/signup?utm_campaign=2019pennstatenationalopen&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=gopsusports.com&utm_content=website&rtid=54703&coverage_id=6293948
For live stats, fans can check http://pttiming.com/events/87931134 
 
Fans can follow the action for the Navy Invite at https://results.mdtimingllc.com/
 
Up Next
The Tigers will continue to participate in the Penn State National Saturday, Jan. 26 with all action beginning at 10:45 a.m.
 
Towson is also sending some of the student-athletes to the Wesley Field House in Annapolis for the Navy Invite. The meet is slated to begin at 11 a.m.