ACU’s track and field teams split again this weekend. As some Wildcats went to the Mean Green Invitational at the University of North Texas, some of the team went to the Jordan Payton Invitational at Stanford University, while the rest of the ACU team competed in the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
As a team, ACU finished in fourth place at the UNT meet in Denton but only sent its team of throwers. Junior Tyler Fleet finished fourth in the hammer throw, and Tara Riley claimed a new personal record in the shot put, throwing 41-5.25. The personal best moves Riley up into the top 10 in the conference.
“I threw good enough for third place in the discus throw, which was ahead of Adam Kuehl of Nike, so that was cool,” said senior Nick Jones. “I also just switched from gliding to spinning on the shot put. I won that competition with a score of 60’3″. It took me more than two years to reach 60 feet with the glide, so I’m excited about that too.”
Team members competed in Pennsylvania for three days against many Division I schools, including Texas A&M, Louisiana State University, and the University of Florida. Senior Ramon Sparks finished second in the triple jump, and senior Romain Rybicki set a personal best in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:53.61.
“The Relays were an eye opener for us as a team. Some of us didn’t run what we set out to run, and that showed us that we can’t get satisfied,” said junior Desmond Jackson, whose relay team finished in third place in the 4×100 meter preliminary heat. “We have to keep working hard every day, continuing to get better to put ourselves in good position to compete for a national title.”
The biggest news from the weekend came from California, where senior Amos Sang won the 10,000-meter run at the Payton Jordan Invitational with a time of 28:20.35, the second-best time in the event in ACU history. Only Nicodemus Naimadu, the most decorated Wildcat runner, has done better.
ACU will compete in the Lone Star Conference meet this weekend at Tarleton State.
“I know on the men’s side we have top marks in 10 of the 21 events,” Jones said. “I think the meet was a good tune-up for everyone as we prepare for conferences this weekend.”
