NEW YORK — The Towson University women's track and field team is back in action this weekend as its travels to New York to compete in the Rutgers Open, Feb. 11-12. The meet will take place at The Armory located in the Bronx, New York.
Last Time Out
On Jan. 29, Towson competed in George Mason's Patriot Games. The Tigers started off strong, as Crystal Johnson earned her fourth first place finish in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.54. Shamika Burton (7.72) and Sydney Tucker (7.73) followed closely behind in third and fourth place. Tucker's time marked a personal best and ranks seventh in the program all-time.
Chalys Caruth finished in second place in the 500 meter, clocking 1:16.48. The time was just .04 off from her own personal best and ranks fifth all time for Towson. In the mile, Alison Betler secured a ninth place finish, clocking 5:17.75, her top collegiate time. Taylor Robinson (9.05) and Tajah Martin-Palmer (9.05) finished one two in the 60 meter hurdles.
Kayla Thorpe finished second in the shot put with a toss of 13.83 meters. Georgia Coleman won the weight throw with a personal best toss of 18.87 meters.
Aliyah Anderson won gold in the high jump with a mark of 1.62 meters.
On Feb. 5, Hayley Horvath represented the Tiger at the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite Meet where she earned a season-high mark of 4.09 meters to place 10th.
Indoor 2021 Recap
The indoor track & field team made waves as the team competed in seven meets during the 2021 campaign. The Tigers ended the season with over 25 top-five finishes and several personal bests accomplished.
Horvath led the way with a very successful indoor pole vault season, capturing five top-five finishes, including a first-place victory at the Winter Track Fiesta hosted by George Mason to end her season. The highlight of her season, however, was setting a new program-best in the indoor pole vault, jumping 4.21 meters at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational hosted by Liberty. After that jump, Horvath ranked No. 13 in the nation and ended the indoor season at No. 22.
Kayla Thorpe also found successful as she set a new freshman record at the VMI Team Challenge in the shot put. The rookie's best throw of the day of 13.53 meters ranks fourth all-time indoors and established a new freshman record.
Not to be forgotten on the track, upperclassmen Crystal Johnson and Holly Edsall both made some noise at the Brant Tolsma Invitational, hosted by Liberty University. Senior Johnson won the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.50 while junior Holly Edsall came out on top in the 500 meter run with a time of 1:19.33.
Fresh Faces
This offseason, the Tigers welcomed 10 freshmen to the team in Cristal Cuervo, Lacey Fowler, Deneé Hibbert, Sara Kindbom, Mia Martinez, Sarah Meredith, Alexis Mogensen, Aubrey Schaffer, Mya Shoemaker and Casey Walter.
Transferring In
Transfers Najae Nickerson (Mount St. Mary's), Amahri Boyce (Manhattan College), Taylor Robinson (Marshall), Chalys Caruth (Mount St. Mary's), Amanda Tony (Alvernia) and Emmeline Klefaas (North Greenville) also all joined the Tiger family for the upcoming slate.
Looking Ahead
The Tigers will head back to Happy Valley to compete in the Penn State Tune-Up on. Feb. 18.
Tigers in the Community
For the 7th consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. The Tigers won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
