Mocs runners sweep 5K podium at UAB Green and Gold

The Chattanooga women’s track distance runners finished 1-2-3 in the 5000-meter run at the UAB Green and Gold Invitational Saturday morning and five more set personal records.

The Mocs loaded into the school van well before the sun crested Saturday morning, but that didn’t deter the UTC trio of Makenzie Jones, Emily Poole and Sophia Neglia from sweeping the 5000-meter run.

“The girls did great in the 5000 to start us off. They swept the podium,” Chattanooga head coach Andy Meyer said. “We had specific speeds for them to hit and they nailed them. They each got into a rhythm and for 15 laps of the race, they were like metronomes. Makenzie, with about a little over a kilometer to go pulled away from everybody for the win.”

Jones led the way finishing first with a time of 17:51.59. Poole, the former Heritage High runner, was second at 18:27.02 and Neglia claimed third at 18:56.21.

In the final race of the day, all three sprinters in the 200-meter dash hit personal records (PR’s). McKenzie Williamson improved her time from last week by 0.23 seconds at 26.62. Sage Davis ran the distance in 26.78, 0.37 seconds better than a week ago on the same track.

Freshman Madelyn Thompson, a recent Heritage alum, bested her performance in three events. She improved her 200-meter dash time by 0.39 seconds at 27.88 in the race. She qualified for the 60-meter hurdles semifinal and edged out her time in the prelims by 0.04 seconds, while jumping 5.06 meters in her first long jump of the season.

Katie Coker improved her time this season in the 400 meter Dash clocking in at 1:04.46.

“Katie improved her time by over three seconds,” Meyer said. “That is huge in the 400. It’s usually by tenths of a second.

“Overall we had a really good meet. We had some great development races, kids are all making strides. Nobody is moving backwards, everyone is heading towards their goals. Happy with the outcome of the meet.

Up next for Chattanooga is the Samford Bulldog Invitational on Valentine’s Day at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.