Women’s Track & Field Team Dominates At Jaguar Invitational

TXST returns to the Birmingham Crossplex for the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships that will be held February.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Texas State women’s track & field team put together another dominating performance at the Jaguar Invitational on Sunday at the Birmingham Crossplex with 22 top eight finishes and 13 top 10 Sun Belt Conference marks.

Kylah Smith took over the top time in the conference in the 60m hurdles at 8.47, a personal best and ranks in the top 10 in program history, in the preliminary round. She followed by completing the finals in 8.53 to claim second and was the fastest among all the collegiate runners. Also in the event, Whitney Ochiam crossed her the finish line in the preliminary round in 8.74, the fourth fastest by a SBC athlete this season, and went on to claim fourth in the finals.

Improving her SBC leading time in the 60m was Tramesha Hardy. The junior posted a mark of 7.41 in her preliminary heat. Her time is a personal best and tied for the second fastest by a Bobcat. In the finals, she was the runner-up with a time of 7.42 that is one of the five quickest times ever in school history.

Hardy concluded the day by helping the 4x400m relay team of Sydni Willis, DeAijha Hicks-Boyce and Esther Oyetunde decrease its conference leading time to 3:42.65 and took home the meet title. It is the second fastest time in program history, just missed matching the record by two tenths of a second.

Willis also claimed an individual event title in the 400m. She completed the race in 55.70, the third fastest in the Sun Belt. Also recording a top eight finish was Dawnshae Evans in 57.08. Her time ranks 10 in the conference after this weekend’s meets.

The 5000m saw two Bobcats record top five SBC times. Kendra Long was the runner-up in 18:03.63 that also ranks second in the conference. Madilyn King was right behind her crossing the finish line in the race. She posted a time of 18:28.66 that places her fifth in the SBC rankings.

Also seeing two TXST athletes record top 10 conference marks on the track was in the Mile. Devina Schneider completed the race in a season best 4:56.15 to take second. Her mark also ranks second in the Sun Belt and in program history. Nikki Sanchez is now 10 in the SBC after completing the race in 5:04.67.

Finishing in the top eight on the track as well were Chrischaynie Washington (200m), Hicks-Boyce (200m) and Oyetunde (800m).

In the field events, the Bobcats had three top eight finishers in the high jump, long jump and triple jump.

Chelsie Decoud won the high jump title with a clearance of 1.74m that also tied the meet record set two years ago. Courtney Johnson and Lauren Purdom finished tied for fourth and eight, respectively, as well.

Winning the triple jump was Mylana Hearn in 12.48m. Taydria Nickerson finished sixth and Raquel Robinson claimed eight in the event.

The long jump competition saw Naomi Ferdinand and Smith finish third and fourth, respectively, as both posted marks of 5.65m. The distance ties them for ninth in the conference rankings. Hearn finished in fifth after uncorking a season best leap of 5.60m on her second attempt of the day.

Sidnee Land recorded a personal best toss of 17.44m on her second attempt in the weight throw. She finished fifth at the meet and is now fifth in the Sun Belt.

On the men’s side, Logan Pittdman and Kyle Denomme finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the mile. Pittdman complete the race with a time of 4:13.76, the third fastest in the SBC this year and in the top five in school history. Denomme ran a 4:17.29 to record a top 10 program mark and ranks ninth in the conference after this weekend.

Denomme also moved up into a tie for sixth in the SBC in the 800m. The junior completed the race in 1:55.84 to take third. Freshman Joe Austin was seventh in the event with a season best 1:56.72, just over a second improvement from last weekend in New Mexico.

Tied for ninth in the SBC in the 60m is De’Marcus Porter. He ran a 6.87 in the preliminary round. The senior followed by finishing seventh in the finals in 6.90.

Joining Porter on the 4x400m relay was Christopher Green, Christian Jackson and Kelson Pierre. The foursome completed the race with a time of 3:18.55 to win the event.

T’Mond Johnson was the runner-up and first among all the collegiate throwers in the shot put with a mark of 17.68m. His toss added his name to the Bobcat record book for the event for the fourth time this year.

Joseph Meade and Jose Angel Gonzalez placed second and third in the 3000m. Meade recorded a time of 8:36.24 and Gonzalez was a little over seven tenths of a second behind him.

Others posting top eight finishes on Sunday were Jaylen Allen (200m), Ben Collerton (high jump), Samuel Hussey (weight throw), Jaylon Jorge (weight throw), Bobby Smith (weight throw), Tyrell Valentine (400m), Carlos Wilson (long jump) and Pierre (400m).

TXST returns to the Birmingham Crossplex for the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships that will be held Feb. 19-20.

For the latest on Texas State track and field, visit the official website of Texas State Athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com and follow the team on Twitter at @TxStateTrack.

Results: http://txstatebobcats.com/documents/2018/2/4/2018_jaguar_invitational_results.pdf