Kats entering stretch run, visit New Mexico
1/21/2016 6:11:00 PM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
With two meets remaining in the indoor season, Sam Houston State visit the Cherry & Silver Track & Field Invitational, held Friday and Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M., looking for strong marks down the stretch.
In total, 30 athletes, including 14 men and 16 women, will compete for the Bearkats against a field of 18 teams and 70 post-collegiate competitors.
“These are some of the heavy hitters of our program,” eighth-year head coach David Self said. “It's a chance to get on a banked track and see some different competition. There will be some California schools coming over as well as Mountain West schools so it's a chance to see a different group and at the same time compete at a world-class facility.”
Last week, Sam Houston set three program records and six meet records at the Texas A&M Team Invitational, with the women taking first place and the men earning runner-up at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
In total, the Bearkats have claimed five of the Southland Conference's eight weekly honors, including senior Ashley Jenkins twice being named women's field athlete of the week and redshirt freshman Chris Jefferson taking home men's track honors on Wednesday.
During Week 1, senior Danielle Demas and sophomore Jeffrey Moore joined Jenkins as award winners. The trio are among a combined 21 Sam Houston athletes, who are ranked in the top 50 nationally, including Jenkins who is No. 2 in the weight throw, Danielle Demas, who is fifth in the 60-meter hurdles and Garrett Larson, the country's No. 10 pole vaulter.
“It helps them and speaks about the quality of our program,” Self said. “We want to do good at the end of the year but you've got to have the tools in place to do that and it speaks volumes about those athletes who are getting that done. It shows it's not just the same people every week.”
With the Bearkats closing out their current training cycle and approaching three weeks to the league meet, Feb. 14-15 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., the meet will provide another chance at building momentum entering the stretch run.
“This is our first two-day meet so it's a chance for the kids to run a lot of races,” Self said. “I want to see them compete, get after it and put up some good marks. After this weekend, we'll have a very good idea where the conference is going to fall out team wise.”
