Kats look to defend team titles at Rice
3/24/2016 3:30:00 PM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
The Sam Houston State men's and women's track and field programs make the short trek down to Houston and the 34th annual Victor Lopez Classic with the two-day event beginning on Friday from the campus of Rice University.
Competition begins at 7:00 p.m. Friday with the 1,500 meters, steeplechase, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters highlighting the opening-day running events. The field events take place Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. Live results will be available by visiting RiceOwls.com.
A week ago, the program combined to notch 25 top-five finishes at the two-day UTSA Invitational, as several athletes saw their first action of the outdoor season. The women finished fourth with 103.5 points while the men took fifth at 81 points. The Wichita State women claimed the team title at 148 points and the Stephen F. Austin men took first at 174 points.
On the women's side, Camry Grigsby and Courtney Lord each logged first-place finishes. Grigsby did so with a mark of 4:46.04 in the 1,500-meter run, her first time running the event at the collegiate level, while Lord took the top spot in the long jump with a career-best leap of 19 feet.
The Kats squads notched three runner-up finishes a piece. Ashley Thompson reached 13 feet, 1 ½ inches in the pole vault while Ashley Jenkins began her outdoor campaign in the hammer throw with a toss of 201 feet, 2 inches and Elizabeth Lyssy went 152 feet, 11 inches in the javelin throw.
For the men, Justin Jenkins secured second in the 100-meter dash with a blazing 10.51 while Jeffrey Moore raced a career-best 4:01.75 in the 1,500-meter run and Garrett Larson picked up where he left off in the pole vault with a height of 16 feet, 4 ¾ inches.
A season ago, both squads captured the top spot at the Classic. The Bearkat men totaled 160.5 points to finish 58.5 points ahead of runner-up Rice. The Bearkat women totaled 145 points to finish 27 points ahead of runner-up University of Houston.
Four Bearkat men won their individual events. Rodney Jones took first in the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.08. Justin Jenkins was the runner-up in the event with a 21.49 mark. Matthew Viverette won the 400 meter hurdles with a clocking of 51.62. William Stark placed third in the event with a 52.66 time. Viverette also placed third in the 110 meter hurdles (14.09).
The SHSU women posted seven first place individual finishes including Paul Smith who earned two gold medals, winning the 100 meter dash with a mark of 11.85 seconds and taking the long jump title with a leap of 19 feet, 2 ¾ inches.
Ashley Jenkins won the hammer with a throw of 208 feet, 10 inches and Danielle Demas won the 100 meter hurdles with a 13.38 clocking. The Bearkat women's 4x400 meter relay quartet of Camry Grigsby, Kodii Church, Ruth Amaku and Jordan Grady finished first with a mark of 3:45.83.
Kristine Hanks won the shot put with a toss of 48 feet, 11 ½ inches. Elizabeth Lyssy earned gold in the javelin for the second consecutive week with a performance of 134 feet, 9 inches.
