GRAMBLING, La. | The Grambling State University men's and women's indoor track teams have had a solid indoor track season thus far as they look to take the title at the 2020 SWAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The conference track meet is set for February 20 and 21 in Birmingham, Ala.

Head coach Bertram Lovell understands that he is working with a much younger bunch this season, with a slew of freshman on both sides.

"They seem to be catching up and finding out what it is all about," said Coach Lovell. "We are expecting a strong showing at the conference meet. I must give credit to Coach Vaughn because he has been holding the fort down for us (and Coach Pittman). We need to improve, but sometimes it takes time because we have a big group of freshman with us, so we need to be patient.

If Coach Vaughn is responsible for holding down the fort off the track, then Burnell Williams has been holding it down on the track for the men's team. He ranks fifth in the SWAC in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.06 (PR) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational) and with a time of 6.89, is ranked eighth in the SWAC in the 60 meter dash (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational).

Following behind Williams is fellow Tiger sprinter Quinn Broussard who is ranked eleventh in the SWAC in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.42 (PR) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational) while teammate Nicholas Williams sits at number 18 in the conference in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.59 (PR) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational). He also is 22nd in SWAC rankings in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.08 (LSU Purple Tiger).

"For both our men's and women's teams, the season has been going well," said Coach Lovell. "We started slow but we expected that with Christmas break breaking up the season, but we have now progressed and wll be ready for the conference meet."

As for progressing, there is a soft-spoken, quiet yet lethal freshman who has been crushing the competition when it comes to distance running. Freshman Naomi Kiprop hails from Eldoret, Kenya, and currently sits at number one in the SWAC in both the 3K run (10:37.98) (2020 Rod McCravy Memorial T&F Meet) and the 5K run (18:03.69) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational).

Furthermore, Grambling boasts five out of the top six SWAC times in the 5K run, with fellow Lady Tigers Mildred Jebet (18:42.93) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational), Winny Chirchir (19:28.27) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational), Priscilla Kibet (19:41.79) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational) and Deborah Kiplagat (19:43.09) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational) rounding out five of the the top six times. Teammate Joan Jelagat sits at number 13 in the SWAC with a time of 21:55.58 (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational).

Rounding out the 3K for Grambling is Jebet, Kiplagat, Chirchir and Kibet who sit at number six, 10, 11 and 14 in the conference.

Rayna Whyte is the lone Lady Tiger in the 60 meter hurdles as she sits at number seven in the conference with a time of 9.12 seconds (LSU Purple Tiger).

In the field events, Tatyana Guidry leads the way for the women with a number five ranking in the conference in the weight throw (15.71 meters) (LSU Purple Tiger) while fellow Lady Tiger Aneisha Bell lands at number nine in the conference with a distance of 14.85 meters (2020 Rod McCravy Memorial T&F Meet). In the women's shot put, Bell and Guidry land at seven and 12 in the conference, boasting distances of 12.59 meters (LSU Purple Tiger) and 11.56 meters (Leonard Hilton Invitational) respectively.

In the women's long jump, Aliyah Campbell is ranked 11th in the SWAC, leaping a distance of 5.36 meters (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational).

Grambling's women's 4x4 relay squad ranks ninth in the conference with a time of 4:08.68 (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational).

In the mile run, Kiprop is the lead woman for Grambling and is ranked at number four in the conference with a time of 5:17.35 (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational) while teammate Jebet lands at number 13 in the conference with a time of 5:33.38 (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational).

On the men's side, Mathias Cheboi is leading the way when it comes to distance running. He is currently ranked seventh in the conference in the mile run with a time of 4:27.55 (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational) and ninth in the SWAC in the 3K run with a time of 9:02.52 (Leonard Hilton Invitational). 

John Allen is the lone Tiger making noise in the men's field events as he ranks 13th in the SWAC in the weight throw with a distance of 12.11 meters (Leonard Hilton Invitational). He also ranks 16th in the conference in the shot put with a distance of 11.73 meters (Leonard Hilton Invitational).

Grambling's men's 4x4 relay squad ranks eighth in the conference with a time of 3:29.75 (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational) while the Tigers distance medley relay team currently sits at fourth with a time of 10:59.84 (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational).

Grambling sprinter Daneisha Curry leads the way for the Lady Tigers with a seventh place conference ranking in the 60 meter run, boasting a time of 7.75 (PR) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational). She is also currently 11th in the SWAC in the 200 meter run with a time of 25.31 (PR) (2020 Rod McCravy Memorial T&F Meet). Teammate Danya Sterling rounds out the sprints ranked at number 23 in the 200 meter run with a time of 25.96 (PR) (Houston G5 Super 22 Invitational).

Overall, coach says that time will tell if this young bunch has responded well to his group of experienced coaches.

"We'll be able to tell where we are come conference meet," said Coach Lovell.




PR = personal record