(photo via ACU Sports)
College Station seems to be a place of luck for ACU’s track and field teams, as they walked away this weekend with 28 personal/season best, 17 top-10 finishes and another school record.
Sophomore sprinter Corniel Lionel ran a personal best in the 60 meter with a time of 6.75 seconds. Lionel would then go on to finish fourth in the 200 with a time of 21.19. This time is a new St. Lucia national record for the island native, also moving Lionel’s name up to second all-time fastest in Wildcat history.
Fellow St. Lucia native, sophomore sprinter Rosen Daniel finished fifth behind Lionel in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.31. Daniel also claimed fourth in the 400 with a time of 47.49. The pair would combine for four top-five finishes in three different events.
Junior Allie Hackett tried something a little different this meet and instead of running her usual 5k/3k combo, Hackett ran the mile. She had no problem setting another ACU school record with a final time of 4:46, beating the previous record by three seconds. Hackett would claim sixth in the mile.
In field events, senior pole vaulter Kynzie Mascarro finished sixth with an indoor PR of 12-11.00 (3.94m). Fellow vaulter sophomore Jaden Dement finished fourth with a vault of 16-01.25 (4.91m).
Senior long jumper Keaton Hart claimed another top-10 placement with his ninth-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 22-04.25 (6.81m).
Over in the throwing area of the track, senior Jelani Rainey would take yet another first place finish in the weight throw with a distance of 59 feet – 3.50 inches (18.07 meters). The mark was only four inches shy of his lifetime best set last weekend at the Houston Invitational. Sophomore Morgan Knight would help in points by finishing eight with a toss of 51-03.50 (15.63m).
Lonnie Smith and Kayla Melgar finished fifth and ninth in the women’s weight throw, both adding new personal bests for the season.
Back on the track, Jessica James ran a PR of 55.34 in the women’s 400, sneaking into the top-10. This moves James into the top spot in the Southland for the 400. Teammate Kimone Green’s time of 55.87 puts her as second in the conference as well.
The men’s team would finish eight overall with 41 points, which is the best showing they’ve had at a meet hosted by the Aggies. The women would claim the 10th overall spot with 16 total points.
The next time the Wildcats step foot on a track to compete will be when they travel to Birmingham, Alabama for the Southland Conference Indoor Championships. The championships are February 15 and 16.
