Marshall Track
By Ben Anderson, FM88 Sports
April 10, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — Marshall Track & Field had multiple strong performances over the weekend in good ol’ Rocky Top at the Tennessee Invitational.
The Herd found the most success on the track with freshman distance runner Destiny Berryman winning the women’s 5k, and sophomore sprints & hurdles runner Dezire Gee winning the women’s 400 meter-hurdles.
Gee said that she had early struggles in the race but was able to recover. “Only thing that was playing in my mind was you got to go out there and get after it,” Gee said in an interview with FM88 Sports’ Ben Anderson. “I mean it’s either now or never. And I went out there and went to the first hurdle I was like dang man, I kind of messed up. But you got to shake back, so I started running, I heard the girl in Lane 5, she ran for Tennessee, her name was Myla Green.”
“Heard her coming and in the inside,” Gee said. “I’m like nah, you can’t let her get you. I kept running, made it to the end (and) all I heard was my coach saying spring to the last hurdle, sprint, so I just ran.”
Berryman picked up her first collegiate victory in her first ever 5k. Berryman said that winning the event was a moment that she will cherish.
“Honestly, very much disbelief because I was just kind of put in at the second heat because I did not have a time,” Berryman said in a interview with FM88 Sports’ Ben Anderson. “I really had no goals or know what the outlook might look like. I was just kind of thrown in there, just did what I needed to do which was run and it was actually a little bit after I finished when I realized I had won over the whole thing. I was like oh wow this is pretty shocking.”
Cross Country head coach Caleb Bowen said that the reasoning for placing Berryman in the 5k was based on her previous performances throughout the season.
“Just the progression she showed in practice,” Bowen said in an interview with FM88 Sports’ Ben Anderson. “We knew she was going to run a good 5k. To be I honest, I think she can run a lot faster than that. Just because that’s her first one. She wasn’t really running with a lot of people in the second half of the race, so there is a lot of upsides with her in the 5 (5k).”
Marshall Track & Field now shifts its focus to Harrisonburg, Va. for the JMU Invite hosted by Sun Belt Conference opponent James Madison University.