North Texas Daily

The Mean Green track and field went to the Texas Tech Invitational. The women’s team had eight athletes finish in the top 10 in their perspective events. The men’s team had five athletes finish their events in the top ten.

“Another impressive day of personal best performances,” said head coach Carl Sheffield. “I’m really proud of how our team stepped up against the competition, and each week it’s a different group of athletes.”

Junior Ashlynn Smart threw in the women’s weight throw “B group” with a new personal best and ended in first place with her best mark being 16.12-meters. Junior Jaleisa Shaffer also competed in the women’s weight throw B and finished in eighth place with her best throw at 14.77m. Shaffer competed in the shot put and finished in sixth with her best mark being 14.03-meters as well. In women’s weight throw, junior Haley Walker finished in fourth with an 18.14-meter throw and beat her school and personal record.

Freshman Macayla Needham threw in the women’s shot put B group and finished first with a throw of 13.09 meters. In pole vault, sophomore Sydney Salinas and junior Bailey Ashmore finished 10th with both of them capturing a score of 3.81-meters. Freshman Charlotte Kerr tied for 10th place in the high jump with a jump of 1.64-meters.

“Haley Walker improves her own weight throw school record with a personal best performance,” Sheffield said. “Ashlynn Smart also won the B section of the weight throw with a [personal record].”

Junior Aneesa Scott finished third in the 400-meter dash with 53.86 seconds. Her time in the event is a new school record and she is currently eighth in the NCAA this season. In the 200-meter B group, junior Cecily Edwards ran it in 24.80 seconds. North Texas women’s 4×400 team placed ninth with a time of 3:55.50.

“Macayla Needham won the shot put section,” Sheffield said. “Sophomores Chris Samaniego and Kendall Maples also had big performances in the throwing events, with personal best performances.”

North Texas men’s had two throwers finish in the top three of the weight throw. Sophomore Chris Samaniego had his best throw of the day being 16.8 meters. Senior Karl Sralla came in third when he threw for 15.97 meters. Freshman Wardell Glaspie finished sixth in the men’s weight throw B at 14.83-meters. Sophomore Kendall Maples placed eighth with a throw of 14.45-meters. Samaniego was in the men’s shot put B group with his best throw of the event being 15.69-meters. Maples was also in the men’s shot put B group and placed eighth with a throw of 14.23-meters.

“We are really coming together as a team,” Sheffield said. “We’ve done a good job at getting the team to focus on themselves and their daily preparation.”

Sophomore Antonia De La Cruz had placed at the top of two events in the Texas Tech Invitational. In the men’s 200m B group, Antonio De La Cruz ran his personal best by placing fourth with a time of 21.38 seconds. De La Cruz also competed in the 60-meter and placed tenth with a time of 6.77 seconds. The Mean Green men’s 4×400 finished in tenth place with a time of 3:20.55.

“Each week is a bigger challenge and we will continue to meet them with confidence,” Sheffield said.

UP NEXT: The Mean Green track and field team will go to the Houston Invite on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Featured Image: Sophomore Sydney Salinas throws her javelin during practice on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Image by Ryan Cantrell