3 to compete at track ‘Meet of Champions’
Ridgeway, Tiff, Brands among state’s best
[From left] Sophmore Ryan Brands, sophmore Grace Ridgeway, and junior Grant Tiff will take their talents to Waco on Saturday to compete against the state’s track elite.
May 20, 2016
Three members of the Lovejoy Track and Field team will compete at the Texas Meet of Champions on Saturday, May 21. The meet will take place at Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium at Baylor University.
The temperature will reach a high of 88 degrees during the meet, there also is a 10 percent chance of rain which could impact the meet.
In order for athletes to qualify, they had to have a top 25 mark in their respective event at state.
One of the members of the team that will be competing is Grace Ridgeway. The sophomore finished in fifth place at the pole vault in the Class 5A state meet.
Ridgeway, who suffered an ankle injury at regionals, has been competing through injury and pain. Girls varsity track coach Logan Kelly has been working with and helping Ridgeway throughout the year, and has witnessed firsthand her perseverance through the injury.
“Once we finished the state meet, Grace’s doctor requested that she go back into a boot for three weeks to help her ankle fully heal,” Kelly said. “She has been in a boot this week and will practice pole vault again today to try and be ready for the meet.”
The two other members of the track and field team who will be competing in the meet are sophomore Ryan Brands and junior Grant Tiff.
Brands will be competing in the 2,000 meter steeplechase event, where he ran a 6:40.06 in the Lovejoy Invitational this year. The sophomore also set his personal mile record with a 4:24.
Tiff will also compete in the steeplechase event, where he placed first in the Lovejoy Invitational with a time of 6:13.14. Tiff was also invited to a national qualifier meet in June.
Both Brands and Tiff have been running and preparing all week for tomorrow at the Texas Meet of Champions.
