Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee State Flying Tigers and Tigerbelles will start the 2012-13 indoor season on Monday, Nov. 19 with the annual Blue and White Meet.

The exhibition will be the first opportunity for TSU supporters to see both sides in action and for track and field director Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice to assess the team’s progress.

Cheeseborough-Guice enters her second season at the helm of both the men’s and women’s squads, but has coached the Tigerbelles since 1994.

This season, Cheeseborough-Guice returns a large portion of the teams that finished fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championship Meet.

For the Tigerbelles, Gabrielle Todd suits up again after running 56.08 in the 400-meter dash to pick up the gold medal in the conference championship.

Todd was also part of the first leg in the 4x400-meter relay champions. Other members of that squad included Kya Riley, Breanna Adams and Ashontae Jackson. The quartet ran the mile in 3:47.70, and they will all be back for TSU this year.

Jackson returns after running team-bests in the 55-meter dash (7.15 seconds), 60-meter dash (7.75 seconds) and 200-meter dash (24.87 seconds) as a freshman.

Jackson also had a fourth place finish in the 55-meter dash (7.19) and 200-meter dash (25.09) during the OVC Championship.

For the Flying Tigers, senior Michael Johnson will pace the team after placing third at the OVC Championship in the 200-meter dash, sprinting in 22.23 seconds.

Junior Royce Dates also returns to the squad and will look to notch a title in the long jump. Dates registered a distance of 7.36-meters at the UNC Invitational last season.

The Blue and White Meet will serve as tune-up for the squads before starting a regular season slate that features events in Murfreesboro, Tenn. and Bloomington, Ind.

Monday’s event is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. and is free for fans and Big Blue supporters.

--TSU Tigers--