Category | Sports

Thunderstorms cancel Yellow Jacket Invitational

Published on March 31, 2009 by Brian C. Bell

The men’s and women’s track and field teams travelled to the campus of Georgia Tech to compete in the Yellow Jacket Invitational on March 27-28.

This was to be the third meet of the outdoor track and field season for the Owls, but after the hammer throw, the meet was called due to severe weather that passed through Georgia.

The thunderstorms brought an end to the only meet of the season where the track teams would have a chance to run close to home, since KSU does not have a facility of its own. The Yellow Jacket Invitational was the best chance for the Owls to compete in front of KSU fans.

The event’s cancellation put a hold on the Owls’ recent momentum and kept conference-leading athletes Gianni Catalano, Daniel Grass, Antonio Logan and James Verdi off the track. Catalano went into the meet after winning the first Atlantic-Sun Athlete of the Week award for the outdoor season.

Mackenzie Howe, who leads the women in long distance events, was prevented from improving on her second place finish in the 5000m at the Georgia Relays in Athens earlier this month. Jumpers Jakia Ragland and Jill Arthur were also grounded by the weather.

The one event that did take place on the Atlanta campus was the hammer throw. KSU’s Jessica Lumpkin and Aymerick Kolokilagi took their reputations as top conference performers in both the hammer throw and shot put.

The Owls will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. on April 10-11 to compete in the Seminole Twilight hosted by Florida State.