WACO, Texas – The UT Arlington track and field team saw personal bests fall as they put together an excellent showing at the Baylor Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium.
UTA has over 15 PRs on the afternoon as they had an all-around great performance in multiple events both on the track and field side.
"Every week we seem to add another athlete or relay to the list of our top caliber performers," said Head Coach
John Sauerhage. "Meanwhile, the same group keeps coming through each week and today was another one of those impressive days."
Things got rolling on Friday afternoon as junior
Abigail Flores placed fourth in the hammer with a new personal mark of 48.33. That jump-started what would be an outstanding Saturday morning for field events.
Sophomore
Liv Cantby got Saturday started with a huge throw of 49.65 in the javelin on her first throw of the day. It was enough to win the event and was just centimeters off her personal best.
Multis All-American
Jade Bontke followed with a huge jump of 6.25 in the long jump, good for the third-longest jump in school history and 13th in the nation. It was Bontke's first jump of the day and enough to earn the second individual victory of the day for the Mavs as well as a PR for the senior.
Freshman
Simona Cabella followed that with a PR of 3.90 in the pole vault, the fifth-highest clearance in school history.
With All-American
Arthur Petersen taking the weekend off, freshman
Brady Shadrick stepped in and nailed a huge final throw of 57.36 to place third in the javelin and eclipse his personal best.
Marvin Walford with a new PR in the triple jump and a third place finish at 14.99, while
Amelia Peterson earned a sixth place finish on the women's side and a new PR of 12.11.
On the track side, it was another outstanding day for freshman
Iyana Gray as she set a new mark in the 200 meter dash at 23.49, the fourth-fastest time in UTA history and the 23rd fastest time in the country. She also placed third in the 100 meter dash, just .02 seconds off her PR, with a time of 11.45.
The women's 4x100 team of
Madison Pippins, Gray,
Tatyana Terrell, and
Vanessa Ugorji put together the second-fastest time in school history as they finished at 44.93, good for 27th in the nation.
Hurdles had a huge day led by the duo of
Krystal Igbo and
Shelby West. Igbo was sixth in the 100 meter hurdles with a PR of 14.02, while West was ninth with a PR of 14.15. West also finished fourth in the 400 meter hurdles at 59.48.
On the men's side,
Joel Bengtsson was second in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 13.75 and added an eighth place finish in the 100 meter dash at 10.44. Freshman
Robert Griffin set a new PR in the 200 meter dash at 21.24.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
- Mikeya Washington set a new PR in the 100 meter dash (11.86) and 200 meter dash (25.82).
- Adeyemi Talabi set a new PR in the 100 meter dash (11.88).
- Tatyana Terrell and Vanessa Ugorji were just off their PRs as they earned sixth and seventh place finishes, respectively, in the 400 meter dash.
- Madeleine Rowe was fourth in the 800 meter with a time of 2:17.94.
- Calyha Brown placed third in the shot put with a season-best 14.63 throw.
- The men's 4x100 teams had a season-best time on the afternoon at 40.57.
- Lucas Van Klaveren placed fourth in the 110 hurdles at 14.33, while Medric Roberson was fifth at 14.47.
- Jackson Cichon was just off his personal best in the 800 with an impressive time of 1:54.04 and a fifth place finish.
- Tanner Henderson placed fifth in the steeplechase with a time of 10:01.89.
- Josh Hoekendorf hit a new best in the hammer throw (45.93).
- Austin Nkwoparah hit a new PR in the discus at 46.12.
UTA returns to action next Saturday as they head to Denton to compete in the North Texas Classic.
FOLLOW ALONG
Follow the UTA track and field and cross country teams on Twitter (@UTAMavsTFXC), Instagram (@UTAMavsTFXC) and Facebook (/UTAMavsTFXC).
