The Wildcats had 25 of their Track and Field athletes place in the top-five at the University of Incarnate Word Invitational.
Not only did junior Lonnie Smith place fourth in discus with a throw of 152 feet and seven inches, but she also set a new school record of 186 feet and one inch in the hammer throw good enough for second-place. Smith was pleased when she had finally beat the record.
“I knew immediately that I broke the school record when my throw was measured,” Smith said. “I had finally done it in competition.”
Smith’s teammate Annina Brandenburg also impressed taking home first-place in discus with a throw of 161-10, second in javelin (134-04) and seventh in shot put (45-11.25).
Junior Kai Schmidt earned two first-place finishes in shot put and discus with marks of 58-10.75 and 183-0. Schmidt’s teammate junior Morgan Knight finished just behind him in shot put with a second-place throw of 57-9.5.
ACU also took the top 3 spots in the women’s javelin throw. Sophomore Reagan Mabery earned first (135-10), Brandenburg took second (134-4) and sophomore Natalie Jackson finished third with a mark of 115-4. Junior Kayla Melgar finished second in shot put (49-03.75) and fourth in the hammer throw (179-6).
In the long jump, freshman Megan Kirby had a mark of 18-09 placing her third in the event, and freshman Noah Herring finished third in triple jump with a length of 47-10.5.
Junior Ryan Cleary took the top spot in the men’s 800m run with a time of 1:55:20, and also second in the 1,500m run finishing at 3:51.71. Freshman Avery Williams placed first in the 400m dash (47.45) with his teammate freshman Jared Williams finishing behind him in third (48.09). In the 100m dash, freshmen Ryan Linton and Le’Gari Daniels posted second and third with times of 10.51 and 10.53.
Smith has confidence that her teammates are doing well and are beginning to thrive.
“We are preparing for conference the same as any other team,” Smith said. “The only difference is that we call upon the Lord and it is up to him how we will compete.”
The Wildcats will split up and compete in three different meets this weekend in California at the Mt. SAC Relays, Long Beach Invitational and in Waco for the Michael Johnson Invitational.
