NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Pioneers traveled to Texas to see what the track, rings, and runways of NCAA Division I Stephen F. Austin University, in a two-day event, would bring. The heat of Texas was upon them with temps in the low-80s for both days.
Starting off the meet were the field events featuring the javelin throw, shot put, and long jump. The Pioneers set six personal records in these events alone. For the javelin,
Ella Margheim, set the tone for the Pioneers with a personal best. Freshman
Jaxson Nation followed with a launch of almost 6 meters more than his previous best. Switching to the shot put, the Pioneer men of Jacob Criswell and
Alexander Dawkins hit marks that bettered their previous bests by over a meter.
For the women,
Alexandra Dickerson also set a personal record. Finally in the long jump,
Reanna Green secured her place at Nationals with three initial A-standard jumps and her fourth being her best of the day for a personal record.
The distance runners followed suit with ten of their own personal bests in the 1500 meter run, 3000 meter steeplechase, and 5000 meter run. In the women's 1500, senior Cassandra Reyes led the charge with
Anna McKnight,
Julia Swearengin, and
Kennedy Krotzinger, all grabbing the prize of personal records. For the men,
Brenton King tore down the track to also take a personal best.
Jackson Elsey was up next as he strode over the barriers in the 3000 steeplechase to set his personal record. Finally for the day, the 5000 meter runners had four athletes cross the line for personal bests. For the women,
Riley Filmore and
Gracie Enochs earned the honors while
Patrick Jacobs and
Ken Morgan did so for the men.
The onslaught of bests continued Saturday with 24 personal records and an A-standard and four B-standard National qualifying marks. As has been throughout the season, the field events got the record breaking started. The throwers grabbed four personal bests as
Alicia Hernandez-Mast, Margheim (her second of the weekend), and
Caley Blosser all set bests in the hammer throw. Blosser added another in the discus throw, making it two personal bests and a tie of her personal record in the shot put. The final personal record in the field events came in the triple jump as freshman
Olivia Young continued to crash the boards. Though not with personal bests,
Victoria Lotz took first in both the hammer throw and discus throw, with A-standard and B-standard National qualifying efforts, respectively.
Turning to the track, the day was laden with sprints and the 800 meter run for a change in pace.
In the 110 hurdles,
Sam Keita and
Lance Jones both ran well to gain access to the finals. In the finals, they both set their personal records with Keita bettering his previous B-standard qualifying time.
The 400 meter race set the bar for all the other events as the Pioneers ran for seven personal records. For the women,
Joslyn Griffin,
Hannah Edwards, Allisa Ward, and
Lakin Essex set best with Essex getting ever closer to the B-Standard mark needed. Meanwhile with the men,
Dennis Musungu,
Mathew Banuelos, and
Blake Poje all conquered the track for their bests. Poje, however, did one better as he claimed a B-standard National qualifying mark.
Two times around the track, the 800 meter run, seemed to be the perfect combination for five Pioneer women as
Alex Gere,
Isabella Meili, Josephine McClung, McKnight, and Swearengin all flew to personal bests. The sixth Pioneer women, Reyes, grabbed her best 800 of the season.
Finishing out his hurdles for the day, Jones grabbed another personal best in the 400 meter hurdles, making it a clean sweep, one in the 110 hurdles also.
The 200 meter dash closed the individual events for the Pioneers with four personal records, one for the women and three for the men. Green was able to turn her long jump explosiveness into a good 200 meter performance as the lone Pioneer women to set a best. After tying his 100 meter best,
Gift Iredia led the men to bests as
Maikyah Stowe and
Ian Hanson followed in his footsteps.
The final event of the day was the 4x400 meter relay with strong performances by both the women and men's A teams. The Pioneer women consisted of Griffin, Essex, Gere, and
Janiah Nicholson who finished third in the race as they ran their best time of the season. The men did one better at second as
Elijah Bergin, Iredia, Poje, and
Zack Jones clocked a B-standard National qualifying time.
In total, a great meet for the Pioneers with 40 personal bests and two A-standard and four B- standard qualifying marks.
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