Track and field impresses at Herm Wilson Invitational
Torie Mosley | Staff Writer
With 10 days until the Indoor Conference USA Championships, North Texas track & field looked to see where it stood competitively at the Herm Wilson Invitational in Wichita, Kansas this weekend.
The team finished the two-day meet with the men placing second and the women placing third out of five teams. Senior Bryce McAndrew and junior Jazmine Martin set facility and meet record times in the mile and triple jump, respectively.
“It was great to win the mile and see the team do so well,” McAndrew said. “We weren’t as nervous as other meets and it really helped us gain momentum to compete.”
The Mean Green had a clean sweep in the men’s mile with McAndrew winning the title at 4:07:11, senior teammate Troy Taylor in second place at 4:15.90 and sophomore Zach Kirkland in third at 4:16.29.
Taylor competed in his first event of the season since sitting out with a shin stress fracture. McAndrew said it made him proud to see his fellow senior teammate back in action.
“He ran with more confidence and it showed in his time,” McAndrew said. “It’s great to see him back out there.”
Senior Dominique Drayden won the men’s long jump and took second in the men’s triple jump in his first time competing in the event this season. Additionally, senior Eddie Wilcox won the men’s high jump event for the second time this season.
For the women, senior Nadiyah El-Amin ran a personal best 7.59 seconds in the 60 meter dash. Sophomore Christina Moralez ran a personal best 5:00.92 in the mile for third place with senior Susie Kemper coming in fourth place with a season-best 5:02.41 time.
“Both of our teams performed really well and showed a lot of heart,” head coach Carl Sheffield said. “All the hard work they put in during the fall is catching up with them.”
The men’s 200 meter event was one of the strongest performances for North Texas, finishing first, second and fourth place in the event. Junior Collin Heard won the title with a season-best time of 21.56 with senior Connor Bey placing second with a season best 22.10 time and Kedron Sowells coming in at fourth place with a time of 22.26.
In the long distance 3000 meter event, freshman Alex Cleveland placed fifth and junior Grady Frazier finished sixth. Senior Shauna Pali came in third for the women with a time of 10:05.83 and said she liked what she saw from both teams this weekend.
“We all looked good and broke two records in the same meet,” Pali said. “I feel like we’re more ready for conference with a good, hard race out of the way to give us enough time to recover between now and then.”
The Mean Green were set to run at the Alex Wilson Invitational on Feb. 19-20 in South Bend, Indiana next weekend, but Sheffield said the teams will not compete at the event due to team injuries. The Conference USA Championships will take place next week Feb. 24-25 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Featured Image: File Photo
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