Stephen F. Austin
TCU Invitational
SFA Places Five in Top Two Spots at TCU Invitational
3/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
FORTWORTH, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin Track and Field team went to Fort Worth this past weekend, competing in the two day TCU Invitational to kick off its 2017 outdoor season. SFA had 30 student-athletes notch top-five places with five finishing as event runners-up, but could not grasp that coveted individual title.
The meet started off with a Friday night “throwers only” evening with the discus and hammer throw events. Mallory Dotson led the Lumberjacks with a second place discus finish behind Baylor with a throw of 43.41m (142-05). The rest of the ladies stacked up behind her with Tierra Wilson in third with a throw of 42.01m (137-10), and Shelbe Gresham was fourth with a 41.39m (135-09). In the women’s hammer throw, Maggie Okul monstered a 50.56m (165-10) throw that placed her in second, and Wilson placed in the top five again with a 48.69m (159-09) throw.
For the men, Trenton Bridges had the farthest SFA hammer throw with a 54.07m (177-05) effort that placed him third. Derek Orlando was just a meter shy of him in fourth with a new personal record of 53.71m (176-02). Kevin Steward was a five finisher in the men’s discus, posting a 51.21m (168-00) toss that put him in fourth place.
Orlando would carry that momentum into Saturday’s competition and squeeze out a new personal record in the shot put with a 16.30m (53-05.75) throw. Jake Allen would finish fifth with 16.09m (52-09.50) mark in his first collegiate outdoor meet. Steward also had a terrific shot put throw that placed him sixth, in front of teammate Ben Bibby.
The pole vault had a strong showing as SFA took part in three way tie for second, third, and fourth. They all passed a height of 5.10m (16-08.75), but the tie breaker would place Noah Gilfillan in second, Antonio Ruiz third, and Daven Murphree in fourth.
The women’s pole vault had the same situation with Dakota Mayr and Kaylee Bizzell both maxing out at a height of 3.91m (12-10.00). The attempt tie-breaker would place Mayr in third and Bizzell in fourth.
There was also a tie in the high jump as Noah Berney cleared 2.00m (6-06.75). Berney would lose out to Clint Broussard, who competed unattached, in the tie breaker. In the long jump Isaiah Pittman solidly won second place after a 7.32m (24-00.25) jump. Pittman lost to Meelis Siimson, who also competed unattached.
Dillon Branson set a new personal record for himself in the javelin throw with a distance of 56.22m (184-05) that placed him fifth in the competition. Kadejah Wilson placed herself second behind Texas A&m-Commerce in the high jump event. Wilson jumped a distance of 1.68m (5-06.00), and then Kariyah Lanehart would set a new PR in the triple jump with a third place finish with a distance of 11.79m (38-0.25).
For the running events, Jonathon Joe set the tone for the Lumberjacks, taking fifth in the 400m with a time of 47.73 seconds. Sam Wallace and Quinlin McGregor went 5-6 in the men’s 800 meter. Wallace had a time of 1:55.21 and McGregor finished at 1:56.61. In the 110 m hurdles, Hunter Key set a new personal record for himself with a time of 14.84 seconds.
On the women’s side, Madison Compass competed in the 800 meter sprint and finish third behind Midwestern State and SMU with a time of 2:16.30. Dominique Jackson also placed third in her event. Jackson was in the 400 meter hurdles and crossed with a time of 1:02.89. In the women’s 1500, Rana Ryan took a third place finish with a time of 4:40.88, while her teammate Taryn Surratt finished sixth.
For the relays, the women’s 4x100 ran early Saturday afternoon, and the squad of Dominque Jackson, Imani Nave, Chelsi Gill, and Aliyah Davis turned out a fifth place finish with a time of 46.14 seconds. The 4x400 women’s relay team claimed third at the end of the day with a time of 3:43.89, seconds behind TCU and Northwestern State. The team was made up of Imani Nave, Chelsi Gill, Tiffany Williams, and Aliyah Davis. The men’s 4x400 squad took a fourth place finish with the team of Isaiah Pittman, Tedrick Hawkins, Jared Love, and William Gibson.
The Lumberjacks will next be competing in the Roadrunners Invitational hosted by UTSA. The meet will be in San Antonio, Texas on Friday and Saturday, March 24-25.
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