Big marks set in final weekend before SLC Indoors
1/31/2016 2:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
In the final weekend of the indoor regular season, the Sam Houston State track and field squad split time posted strong showing at the Houston Invitational as well as the Jayhawk Classic, the first multi-event of the season.
In Houston, junior Garrett Larson re-set his school record in the pole vault with a height of 17 feet, 8 ½ inches, as the top collegiate competitor, moving up to fifth nationally.
In the women's triple jump, a pair of Bearkat set personal bests as Khalaya Williams took fourth with a time of 39 feet, 10 inches and Darian Bucknor grabbed fifth at 39 feet, 7 inches.
Chris Jefferson earned a strong day, taking second in the 60-meter dash at 6.78, while teammate Justin Jenkins captured fourth (6.81). Meanwhile, in the men's 400-meter dash Eric Pouncy secured fourth at 49.89 while Bailey Rhodes went 11th in the 800 meters (1:57.66).
In the men's one mile, Chris Speaks secured a fifth-place finish behind a mark of 4:16.77 followed by Chris Jefferson's 4:22.27 in 12th while on the women's side Camry Grisby took ninth (5:04.49). The men's 3,000 meters saw notables finishes with Grant Buley in 15th (8:50.98) and Logan Terry in 17th (8:52.73) while Ana Moreno led the women in 13th (10:22.55) with Olivia Olguin (10:23.71) and Nicole Aponte (10:23.81) taking 17th and 18th.
The men's 4x400-meter squad continued to shine, capturing second at 3:19.30, while the women brought home the top spot at 3:46.92.
In the men's shot put Michael Nichols secured 10th with a toss of 48 feet, 6 inches while on the women's side, Kristine Hanks took second at 48 feet, 9 inches. In the women's weight throw, Ashley Jenkins, who ranks second in the nation, tossed 68 feet, 5 inches, in first place, more than 10 feet ahead of the second-place competitor.
Danielle Demas posted a blazing 7.53 qualifying time in the 60-meter dash and followed it up at 7.55 while teammate Paula Smith earned sixth in the event behind a mark of 7.71. In the 60-meter hurdles, Demas took third at 8.36.
In the 400 meters, Jordan Grady (56.73), Ruth Amaku (56.76) and Briana McCall (57.37) went second, third and fourth respectively.
Joan Cepeda took seventh in the women's high jump at 5 feet, 5 inches while Ashley Thompson scored third in the pole vault at a height of 12 feet, 7 ½ inches, ahead of teammate Monica McClellan (11 feet, 7 ¾ inches) in eighth and Margaret LaSalle (11 1 ¾ inches) in 12th.
Paula Smith and Tristyn Allen rounded out top 10 finishes in the long jump, taking sixth (18 feet, 10 ½ inches) and eighth (18 feet, 7 ¾ inches) respectively.
Meanwhile, Tyler Adams brought home a first-place finish in the heptathlon with a score of 5,162 points while Dylan Elliott secured fourth (4,405) and Kagan Angers took sixth (4,262).
In the 60-meter dash, Adams (7.16), Angers (7.18) and Elliott (7.29) all set PRs taking second, third and fourth respectively. In the 1,000-meter run, Adams led the way at 2:49.74 and did so as well in the 60-meter hurdles (8.43) and high jump.
The women's pentathlon saw more success for Sam Houston with Courtney Lord leading the way at 3,555 points, good enough for third in program history, and Avery Zamzow posting 3,450 in second.
Zamzow secured the top finish in the 60-meter hurdles (9.11) while Lord took third (9.21) and Frances Porter went sixth (9.40). Zamzow (5 feet, 5 inches) and Lord (5 feet, 7 1/4 inches) took the top spots in the high jump and the long jump (18 feet, 1 ¾ inches and 17 feet, 10 ¾ inches) respectively while Zamzow took fourth in the shot put (36 feet, 11 ¾ inches). Porter took second in the 800 meters at 2:31.02.
Sam Houston will return to action at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships, Feb. 14-15, in Birmingham, Ala., at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The Bearkat women will be seeking their second indoor title in three years (2014) while the men, who have claimed three straight runner-up titles, look for their first indoor league title.
