Carl Kight Invitational Opens on Thursday Afternoon
4/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
2017 Skechers Performance Carl Kight Invitational
Thursday, April 7 – Saturday, April 8
Fletcher Garner Track • Nacogdoches, Texas
Meet Headquarters
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin track and field team are ready to host the annual Skechers Performance Carl Kight Invitational the Thursday through Saturday at the Fletcher Garner Track inside the Homer Bryce Stadium. The meet is the Lumberjack’s lone home event and a perfect opportunity for fans to come out and support the track and field teams.
Student-athletes from 14 different schools in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas are antered in the weekend’s field. From the Southland Conference, SFA will be joined by Central Arkansas and Sam Houston State over the next three days. Other programs sending athletes to participate are Dallas Baptist, East Texas Baptist, University of Louisiana Monroe, Jarvis Chrisitan, Louisiana Tech, UT-Tyler, Rice, Southern-Arkansas, Southwestern Assemblies of God, Texas College, and Wiley.
The meet will officially get underway on Thursday with the decathlon and heptathlon. The men of the decathlon will start their first of ten events with the 100-meter sprint at 1:00 p.m. Day one of the decathlon will include the long jump, shot put, high jump, and the 400-meter sprint. The women will kick off the heptathlon at 2:00 p.m. with the 100-meter hurdles, from there they will compete in the high jump, shot put, and then the 200-meter sprint.
The multi-events will pick back up early Friday morning, with the men starting again at 9:30 a.m. with the 110-meter hurdles, while the women come back at 12:00 p.m. for the long jump.
The field events are slated to start late afternoon on Friday. All four field events start at 4:00 p.m. The javelin, pole vault, and long jump will feature the women first and then the men will compete. The exception is the shot put, in which the men will throw first and then the women.
The distance carnival, consisting of the 1,500-meter, 3,000-meter steeplechase, and the 5,000-meter, will close out Friday night’s events. The women of the 1,500-meter are up first after the singing of the National Anthem at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday morning will be the wrap up of the fielding events. Women’s hammer and discus, with the men to follow, start off at 9:00 a.m. The triple jump and high jump will get underway at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively. The running events will be in full swing at 1:30 p.m. with a rolling schedule through the hurdles and sprint races.
SFA’s senior recognition will be held on the 50-yard line of the football field at the conclusion of the 200-meter races, approximately 4:30 p.m. before the 4x400-meter relays concludes the meet at 5:00 p.m. A whopping 25 seniors will be honored during Saturday’s tribute. Aliyah Davis, Bridgette Kozar, Chelsi Gill, Cole Stallcup, Courtney High Daven Murphree, Derek Orlando, Dillon Branson, Hunter Key, Josh Torres, Kami Stockett, Kayla Brewer, Lucas Akins, Madeline Kaufmann, Mary Luster, Rana Ryan, Sam Wallace, Shakir Iga, Shelby Gresham, Shelby Pesek, Tasia Williams, Taylor Anderson, Tiare Dugger, Topper Markham, and William Gibson are set to make their final Carl Kight appearances.
The women’s 4x400-meter relays shook things up last week when they made to the finals of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. The squad of Imani Nave, Tiffany Williams, Chelsi Gill, and Aliyah Davis overcame the odds and finished ninth in the competition with a time of 3:43.28.
Sophomore Isaiah Pittman tied his personal record in the long jump of 7.51m (24-7.75) and finished third in his section of the event. Senior Hunter Key made a statement at the Relays Decathlon portion, resetting three personal records and finish in the top four of two events. Key would finish 12th out of the 20 decathletes in competition. He now ranks 14th in the nation for his decathlon score of 7031 points.
Pole vaulters Noah Gilfillan and Antonio Ruiz have also cracked the top 20 vaulters in the nation. Gilfillan sits at 13th with his 17-04.5 height in the Roadrunner Invitational in mid-March. Ruiz, after the Texas Relays, is tied at 17th with Kansas and Texas A&M.
All information pertinent to the upcoming meet in available on the Skechers Performance Carl Kight Invitational home page here.
A NOTE ON CARL KIGHT:
The annual Skechers Carl Kight Invitational is named after Dr. Carl Ray Kight, a former chairman of the department of health and physical education at Stephen F. Austin. He was also a great friend of the track and field and cross country programs, as he worked tirelessly as a starter for multiple high school and collegiate track and field/cross country meets for SFA for over 15 years. Affectionately named “Trigger” for his lightning fast shooting hand, Dr. Kight will always be in the thoughts and minds of the SFA Track Program and all his colleagues in the SFA and Nacogdoches community during this meet.
-SFA-
