ABILENE/HOUSTON, Texas – McMurry University Track & Field split up its team this week to complete in two meets, starting Thursday with the HSU Invitational in Abilene and ending Saturday at the J. Fred Duckett Twilight in Houston.
The War Hawks improved or added four national rankings over the week – two of which happened in field events at Hardin-Simmons University and two on the track at Rice University.
HSU Invitational Results
J. Fred Duckett Results
National Marks & Times:
- On Thursday in North Abilene, senior Kelby Tidwell improved her pole vault mark for the fifth consecutive time with a clearance of 3.55 meters. She ranks 31st nationally and atop the ASC by a half-meter. She also competed in three events Saturday at Rice.
- Freshman DonTre Sinegal also improved his long jump mark at HSU with a leap of 7.43m to win the event. That mark would rank seventh in the nation pending conversions.
- Junior Jayden Sloan ran a strong time in the men's 400 at Rice, finishing fifth of 52 runners with a time of 48.25. This time ranks him 13th nationally.
- Sloan also teamed up with Jacorian Colbert, Jamari Williams and Dazhaun Walton to run the 4x100 relay Saturday. The group ran a season-best time of 41.32 to rank 13th nationally and third in what's proving to be a fast American Southwest Conference.
More Track Highlights:
- Walton joined Sloan in the individual 400 and ran a time of 49.34 for a personal record. He now sits sixth in the conference in that event and remains second in the 200 behind Sloan. The two also ran the 4x400 with Jaheim Billison and Griffin Gayler and finished fifth of 12 teams at 3:18.88.
- The women's 4x400 relay had a new season-best time Saturday at 4:04.87 to rank second in the conference. The squad included Bethany Guzman, Breauna Conner, Isabella Sanchez and Kelby Tidwell, respectively.
- On Saturday, Justin DeLeon ran a personal best 55.76 time to move into second behind Sloan in the ASC rankings. He's now in the top five for both hurdle events in the conference.
More Field Highlights:
- On Thursday at HSU, all three men's pole vaulters joined Tidwell with either season bests or personal bests. Rylan Rogers led the way at 4.45m to rank second in the ASC, followed by Shepherd Miller with a PR of 4.30m to rank third. Jayden Gonzales joined the party with a 4.15m mark for a season best.
- Christian Morales had a major PR in the javelin Thursday with a 53.08m mark to win the event and rank second in the ASC. Jayden Gonzales also competed in the javelin and set a personal record to place second at 46.84m.
- Morales was one of three throwers with personal bests in the men's hammer. Jarrett Hart led that bunch with a 48.66m mark to rank third in the conference, while Seth Setovich was not far behind at 43.37m to rank fourth. Sutton Welch won the event at HSU at 49.56m and remains second in the conference behind teammate Reagan Owen – both above 50 meters.
- The women's throwers had remarkable days across the board, setting 14 personal bests or season bests over four events Thursday in Abilene. Among those was Ellie Ryan who launched a 43.29m mark in the hammer to set the new conference standard and her new PR. Jaalah Puryear and Elizabeth Cunningham rank second and third in the same event – both setting new personal bests Thursday.
- Veteran thrower Margo Mendoza not only joined the aforementioned three with hammer PRs, but also led McMurry in the discus at 37.17m to rank third in the ASC. Glenda Parra is now fourth with a new PR at 36.75m, while Ryan set a season-best at 36.57m for fifth in the ASC.
- Back in the men's discus, Daniel Zarzoza III set a personal record at 40.97m to rank fifth in the conference. Jessy Villagomez tossed a season-best 38.42m mark while finishing third in his specialty event – the shot put at 13.81m.
- Elizabeth Jordan had two PRs on Thursday – one in the shot put and one in the discus. She finished third in the shot put at 10.85m and now ranks among the top eight in the ASC. She's now seventh in the discus with her new PR of 35.54m.
- Five throwers set season-bests in the javelin at HSU this week, led by Ryan at 35.95m. Corbin Stulir moved to fourth in the conference with a PR of 35.92m to just miss Ryan's mark. Bethany Wood, Hannah Moss and Allissa Rodriguez also threw PRs and rank among the ASC's top 10.
- Losuria Webb-Barber was the only War Hawk to compete in the triple jump, joining a handful of Cowgirls from Hardin-Simmons. She jumped a new season-best of 10.08m.
Coming Up:
The War Hawks currently have one more meet on the regular season schedule – the Oliver Jackson Twilight hosted by Abilene Christian University on Thursday, April 28. The following week, McMurry will host the American Southwest Conference Championships May 5-7 at Wilford Moore Stadium.
