Track & Field kicks off spring at Ted Nelson Invitational

Saturday, January 18

College Station

All Day

Ted Nelson Invitational

Photo by: Erik Williams

Track & Field kicks off spring at Ted Nelson Invitational

1/19/2020 6:31:00 AM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field

COLLEGE STATION – The Sam Houston State track and field teams kicked off their 2020 spring season on Saturday, bursting onto the scene with a successful day at the Ted Nelson Invitational.

The meet, held at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium at Texas A&M, saw the Kats joined by the likes of Texas A&M, Kentucky, Stephen F. Austin, UTSA, Abilene Christian and UT Arlington.

One of the top pole vaulters in the nation, Clayton Fritsch kicked off his season with a win, clearing 5.51 meters on his first try to edge SFA's Branson Ellis for the meet title.

The Bearkat men also took first and third in the 60-meter hurdles as Fabian McCall put forth a time of 7.81 seconds to take first place while Joshua Smith took third at 8.04 seconds.

Jo'Vaughn Martin's 6.75 seconds in the 60-meter dash was also good for third, while Cameron Brown posted an early collegiate best with a 48.10-second time in the 400-meter run to finish second.

The Kats pulled in another individual title when Joe Austin III took the 800-meter run in a time of 1:55.03.

In the mile run, Andrew Bosquez took second in 4:15.36 with Sergio Armendariz at 4:24.77 finishing eighth.

Zachary Johnson delivered 7.21 meters on his second try in the long jump, finishing third.

On the women's side, the Kats turned in a number of top-10 finishes, including Shaynea Redmond's fifth-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 5.69 meters. Rachel Smith's throw of 15.73 meters was also good for fifth in the weight throw.

They also got top-10 finishes from Payton Wells in the 200 meters (25.37), Jasmin Mitchell (58.06) in the 400 meters and Rebeca Gonzalez (2:23.76) in the mile run. Cryslan Tucker led the way for SHSU in the 3000 meters with a time of 10:27.48 for ninth, and Morgan Janda also finished ninth in the high jump after clearing 1.58 meters.

The Kats will next head to Lubbock to take part in the Texas Tech Invitational on January 23-24.