Stephen F. Austin
Bobcat Classic Invitational
Men Claim First and Women Second at the Bobcat Classic
4/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Stephen F. Austin at Bobcat Classic
Friday, April 28 - Saturday, April 29
Bobcat Track and Field Stadium -- San Marcos, Texas
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- The Stephen F. Austin Track and Field team had terrific success over the two day meet in the San Marcos. SFA claimed nine individual titles, as well as the men's team finishing first with 190 points, 50 over the second place host Texas State. The women's team finished in second with 178 points. Individual leaders where senior Derek Orlando in the men's hammer, sophomore Isaiah Pittman in men's long jump, senior Shelby Pesek in the women's 3000-meter steeple chase, junior Larry Deramus in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Trenton Bridges in the men's discus, senior Rana Ryan in the women's 1,500-meter, freshman Imani Nave in the women's 200-meter, junior Kerry Gleason in the men's 400-meter hurdles, and the men's 4x100 relay squad.
Friday afternoon showed a great start to the competition for the Lumberjacks as they claimed four of the top five spot in the men's hammer, starting with Orlando, who threw a 58.70m (192-07) throw, which placed him first in the competition and third in the Southland Conference. Bridges finished third with a 53.72 (176-03) toss, while senior Dillon Branson was fourth, sophomore David Castillo fifth, and junior Ben Bibby sixth. For the women's hammer, freshman Maggie Okul placed third with a throw of 51.92m (170-04), and senior Kami Stockett mustered a new personal record throw of 49.73m (163-02).
Bridges came back out later that day for the men's discus, where he monstered a new PR of 54.34m (178-03). The mark puts him second in the Southland Conference, as well as puts him 24th in the West Region. With Bridges' throw, the Lumberjacks grabbed first through third with Castillo in second with a 51.94m (170-05) toss, and freshman Kevin Steward in third with a 50.93m (167-01).
Pittman, who has held the highest mark in the Southland for the men's long jump for most of the outdoor season, pushed out another personal record of 7.63m (25-00.50) to place first in the competition. The new distance puts him 18th in the region.
In the women's 3000-meter steeplechase, Pesek put up a 10:47.16 time that won her the top spot of the race. Pesek is currently second in the conference in the event after the 10:33 race she had at the Bob Larson Distance Carnival. Junior Brittany Innis finished 20 seconds behind Pesek in third place with a 11:06.31 time. On the men's side, Deramus solidly claimed first place, finishing 13 seconds before any other competitor. Deramus clocked a time of 9:31.65.
For the running events on Saturday, Ryan was the first top finisher with a 4:35.59 time in the women's 1,500-meter run. Nave then claimed first in the women's 200m with a personal record of 23.42, which is the second best time in the Southland. Senior Aliyah Davis was four hundredths of a second behind Nave with a 23.46 time that placed her second in the competition and third in the conference. The women flip-flopped in the 100m with Davis finishing as the first collegiate runner with a time of 11.64, while Nave came in fourth with a PR of 11.74.
In the men's 400m hurdles, Gleason was able to post a 51.95 time, a second faster time than the second place runner. The time is the second best in the conference and is a huge statement for Gleason going into the Southland Conference meet since the last meet he competed in was the TCU Invitational back in March. On the women's side, sophomore Dominique Jackson clenched second place with a PR of 59.84, boosting her to the top of the lists in the Southland. Senior Tasia Williams was fourth, while senior Tiare Dugger came in fifth.
For the relays, the men's 4x100 knocked seven seconds off their performance at last week's Michael Johnson Invitational. The squad of Jared Love, Khalil Lacey, Tedrick Hawkins, and Aaron Piper clenched the top mark with a 40.52 time, which is the second best time in the conference this season. Hawkins came back at the end of the meet to help his 4x400 team to a second place finish with a time of 3:10.81, three hundredths of a second away from first place. Joining Hawkins was, Isaiah Pittman, Charles Fentress, and William Gibson.
SFA will take next week to rest before they travel to New Orleans for the Southland Conference Tournament. The three-day meet gets underway on May 12 through May 14.
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