COMMERCE, TEXAS – A&M-Commerce women's track and field is set to travel to Norman, Oklahoma to kick off the indoor season at this Saturday's UCO Invitational, hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma.
The Lions will begin the year sporting a very different look from last year's squad, only returning nine athletes from last year's roster of 22. Five of the nine are distance runners, headlined by
Terra Truitt. The sophomore out of Pampa, Texas enters a track and field season fresh off her a Fall cross country season in which she won All-Conference honors by virtue of her 13th place overall finish at the 6k LSC Conference Meet. She's expected to continue her success in the distance events this indoor season.
Another key returner for the Lions will be sophomore
Selasie Koto, who achieved a first place finish in the triple jump at last season's UCO Invitational with a 10.98m mark. According to second year head coach
Tom Dibbern, the best is yet to come.
"She's looked well ahead of where she was. She should at the very least meet that mark this year," said Dibbern.
Also making her return for A&M-Commerce is sophomore
Ashley Bassett, who will play a pivotal role in the Lions' fortunes in the 400m hurdles along with transfer
Ana Baleveicau of Fiji. Another returner for the Lions is senior
Brooke Odom, who during last year's indoor season was part of the 4x400m relay team that broke the A&M-Commerce school record. She is one of two members of that group making a return to A&M-Commerce, the other being senior
Tyler Cottingham.
Not only will the Lions have many new faces this season, the majority of the roster is actually comprised of freshman, with 15 of the 26 athletes suiting up for the first times in their collegiate careers. High expectations are in place for the team's trio of throwers, consisting of
Rebecca Mueller,
Anitial'a Robins and
Jasmine Carter, who come to Commerce with various, impressive pedigrees. Other prospective contributors include the freshman high-jump duo of
Hailey Nelson and
Deandra Hanson.
"We're not looking for anything specific. We need to get some competition under our belt," said Dibbern, "Saturday will give us a chance to accelerate our training and give us a better idea of where we stand and what we need to work on going forward."
The meet will take place on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman at the Mosier Indoor Facility. The meet is set to begin on Saturday, January 31 at 11 A.M.
