The Tigers' hopes of finishing in the top half of the team standings in the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association Track & Field Championships were dealt a serious blow when last year's Most Outstanding Performer, senior Ashley Adams, was forced to withdraw from further competition after suffering an ankle injury in the long jump early in the meet.
Without the talented senior hurdler and speedster, the Tigers were unable to make up the points and eventually finished last in the nine-team field. Georgia State won the women's title with 133 points followed by George Mason (105), Northeastern (100.5), James Madison (98), Delaware (96), UNCW 81.5), VCU (79.5), William & Mary (61) and Towson (60.5).
"We lost a potential of about 30 points without Ashley," said Tiger coach Roger Erricker. "She couldn't run either hurdle event, the 100 meter dash or compete in the relays. A lot of the close finishes just didn't go our way which was the opposite of last year when things did go our way."
Adams suffered a sprained ankle on one of her final jumps in the long jump. She still managed to finish third in the event with a personal record of 19'6.75". Prior to that she broke the school and conference record in the 100 meter hurdles, turning a 13.48 in the preliminaries but she would not have the opportunity to defend her hurdle titles in the finals because of the injury.
A major reason for Towson's third place finish in the 2010 team standings was the performance by Adams who scored big points. She captured both hurdle events. She set a CAA record in the 100 meter highs with a time of 13.66. She became the first Towson hurdler to clear the 400 intermediates under one minute with a 59.92 clocking, a new school record. She just missed setting the CAA record (59.88) by four-one hundredths of a second.
Senior Motara Okusaga picked up the slack in the hurdles, running personal records in the 100 (14.37 for a sixth) and the 400 (1:00.43 for fourth). She also led a freshmen contingent in the 4x100 relay team that qualified for the ECAC's with a time of 47.71.
Towson's top place in the meet was claimed by junior Shannel Shivers who finished second in the hammer throw with a 166'5" throw. Junior Shianna Smith also broke the school record with a 162'8" throw for a fifth place finish. Both scored additional points in the meet. Shivers was fifth in the shot put (40'9") and Smith was eighth (39'5"). Shivers was sixth in the discus with a 126'4" throw.
Other personal records included senior Brandi Gervais in the 5,000 meter run (17:40.63) for sixth place and freshman Evan Campbell in the high jump (5'5.25") for fourth place. Freshman Maya Hinton set a personal best in the intermediate hurdles with a time of 1:05.40. Freshman Melissa Shirley was seventh in the discus with a throw of 124'5".
