North Texas Daily

Brett Medeiros / Staff Writer

The UNT track and field team came home from the J.D. Martin Invitational in Norman, Okla. on Saturday with 15 podium finishes.

Juniors Clint Collins, Charleston Lewis and Shahaf Bareni, and freshmen Michaela Williams and Mona Landry placed first in their respective events.

Bareni said that she was happy with the results because she was sick for the first meet of the season.

“We are definitely getting better and are on the right track,” Bareni said. “Personally, it was a good opening for me because I was very sick with the flu and bronchitis for the Texas A&M meet.”

Despite there being only four teams competing in the Invitational, head coach Carl Sheffield said that he is impressed with his athlete’s individual performances.

“It is what it is, but the main thing is to just get better week by week,” Sheffield said. “If they finish in the top five or are getting on the podium and finishing near their personal best then we are doing well out there.”

The biggest obstacle presented to the Mean Green in the Invitational was the fast pace and layout of the indoor meet.

With events crammed back-to-back and limited warm-up areas, the rushed atmosphere threw a couple of the competitors off their regular routines.

“Personally, I realized that there were some areas that were faulty in my warm-up and I can improve that for next week,” junior hurdler Kendria Burton said. “For example, warming up closer to my event would help, so I will need to see how future events are set up so I can prepare accordingly.”

Sheffield said that, compared to the first meet in College Station, the J.D. Martin Invitational provided a more realistic placement for the Mean Green on the NCAA totem pole.

“I was telling someone earlier that I wish we had started the season this week because we were much more prepared,” he said. “A lot of people are close to their personal best already, so I think we are all the right trail. We just need to get back to where we were before the break.”