Seniors shine at War Hawks Classic

ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University Track & Field hosted its annual War Hawks Classic at Wilford Moore Stadium on Friday, winning multiple events and celebrating 11 seniors from the program with a special ceremony.

The meet was scored, as the War Hawks finished first on the men's and women's side. The men finished with 201 points, while the women ended with 171.5 points.

Six other institutions – including local schools Hardin-Simmons and Abilene Christian – competed in the meet, as well as some unattached athletes. American Southwest Conference opponents UT Dallas and Concordia Texas also sent athletes to the meet.

PHOTOS l VIDEO l RESULTS

Senior Highlights:

Kelby Tidwell had an outstanding senior day meet, earning a triple-personal record and national ranking in the pole vault to clear at 3.45 meters. Her previous PR was 3.26m to win the 2021 ASC Championship. Saturday, she cleared 3.30m, 3.36m and 3.45m – the latter two of which came on the first try. Tidwell also set a PR in the triple jump at 10.74m and won the 400 meter hurdles at 1:11.86.
Jayden Gonzales competed for the second time this season and set a PR in the javelin with a throw of 46.18m to finish third at the meet. Trending upward, the pole vault and javelin specialist ranks ninth in the conference.
Jessy Villagomez – a two-time ASC runner-up in the men's shotput – moved into third in the conference with a season-high mark of 13.82m Saturday.
Seth Setovich had a career-meet Saturday, pumping up his teammates with a 41.49m throw in the men's hammer throw. The mark was his first over 40 meters. He now ranks fourth in the ASC as McMurry owns the top four spots in the conference.
His football and track teammate Daniel Zarzoza III set a new season-high in the discus with a mark of 39.72m – very close to his PR set last season in the 2021 ASC Championships at 39.77m.
Fellow multi-sport athlete Cahlyl Rossin set PRs in the triple jump and long jump with respective marks of 11.79m and 5.84m.
John Zuniga Jr. finished second in the men's 1500 with a time of 4:13.32. Fellow senior Andres Martinez joined him in the event and finished sixth with a time of 4:20.01.
Caitlin Crow ran the women's 1500 and had a time of 5:36.60.
Though they did not compete Saturday, Nandhi Brown and Tess Headrick were each recognized in between events at the meet as long-time members of the program.

Track Highlights:

Jayden Sloan had a strong performance in the 400 meter hurdles, winning the event with a personal best time of 53.02. He ranks fifth in the nation and first in the ASC.
Dazhaun Walton ran the 100, 200 and both relays, placing second in three of the four events. In the 200, he finished second at 21.45 – a one-hundredth of a second off his PR – to rank 35th nationally.
Jada Morris won two events, including the women's 100 with her time of 12.54. The event was her first time running the 100 outside of relays.
Najwa Campbell ran a time of 15.40 in the 100 meter hurdles to win the War Hawks Classic, while also running a 200 time of 26.80 to set a new personal record and move into seventh in the conference.
Abram Maldonado also earned gold at the meet, winning the 800 with a time of 1:55.97 for a new PR. Gabriel Sanchez also had a PR at 1:57.83 to finish fourth. Victor Leos also showed improvement with a new PR of 2:07.92.
Walton and three other runners set season-highs or personal records in the 100 for McMurry – Jacorian Colbert (10.88), Jamari Williams (11.01) and Jermond Lovely (11.14).
Breauna Conner set a personal record in the 400 with a time of 1:00.74 to finish third. She also was part of two relay teams that finished second. Isabella Sanchez and Katelyn Hernandez also set PRs in the 400 and ran on the 4x400 relay.
Freshman Jaheim Billison ran a PR of 49.84 in the 400 to rank sixth in the ASC, while Griffin Gayler was right behind him at 49.90 in his first collegiate 400. He ranks seventh in the ASC.
Jazmin Chacon led the way in the women's 1500 with a time of 4:58.87 to finished second.
Justin DeLeon ran both hurdle events and landed podium finishes in both, scoring second in the 110 hurdles at 16.27 and third in the 400 hurdles at 56.26.
McMurry had three runners in the steeplechase, led by local product Patrick Esparza with a time of 10:45.94 to finish second.
Despite putting more of an emphasis on individual running events Saturday, the War Hawks had success in relays. The men's 4x100 ran a time of 41.48 to finish third, moving up to sixth in the nation. Colbert, Lovely, Sloan and Walton made up the group.
The women's 4x400 now ranks in the national top 50 with a time of 4:05.86. Hernandez, Bethany Guzman, Sanchez and Conner made up the group. The women's 4x100 ran a time of 49.93.

Field Highlights:

DonTre Sinegal and Jayden Sloan set new best in the triple jump and are both nationally-ranked. Sinegal had a mark of 14.36m to rank ninth nationally, while Sloan finished at 13.94m to rank 22nd.
Jada Morris won the women's long jump with a mark of 5.29m while also finishing third in the high jump at 5.29m. Both marks were personal records.
Jermond Lovely moved into 23rd nationally in the long jump, setting a new PR at 7.09m.
Sutton Welch and Zacchary Pomele both set personal records in the shot put and rank among the conference's top 10, including a fifth place ranking for Welch. Pomele also set a PR in the discus at 39.74m.
The women's throws set 11 new season-high marks over four events – many of which were personal records. Jaalah Puryear finished third in the hammer with a plus-40 mark of 40.94m. Meanwhile, Ellie Ryan finished second in the javelin at 35.83m.
McMurry now holds the top three hammer spots in the ASC on the women's side, led by Ryan and Puryear. Elizabeth Cunningham now ranks third with a mark of 39.47m at the War Hawks Classic.
Glenda Parra and Elizabeth Jordan both had PRs in the discus, as Parra tossed 35.41m and Jordan threw a 34.97m mark.

Coming Up:
The War Hawks will host the American Southwest Conference Championships on May 5-7 at Wilford Moore Stadium. Before then, the team will look to compete at a handful of regular season meets. Keep up to date at mcmurrysports.com on the track & field pages.

Print Friendly Version