Texas A&M University-Commerce track & field team participated alongside Division I and Division II schools recently at the Bobby Lane Arlington Invitational hosted by University of Texas at Arlington March 29-31.
Both of the women and men’s squads had great performances, in the form of multiple student-athletes setting new season-best marks in various events.
On the women’s side, there were several new season-best marks set. In the 100-meter dash, Ebony Lewis finished with a time of 13.31 seconds, in her first time running the 100 this spring.
In the 800-meter run, Kara Bickel set a new season-best, with a time of 2:28.11, improving her previous season-best by more than five seconds. Andra Bickel and Brittany King, who both ran the 800 for the first time this spring, recorded times of 2:32.08 and 2:43.36, respectively.
Esther Fernandez ran the 1,500-meter run for the first time this season, and recorded a time of 6:02.91.
Niki Williams continued her strong performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase event with a new season-best of 11:48.31, eclipsing her previous season-best by more than five seconds.
The field events were strong once again for the Lions, specifically in the shot put and discus events. Taylor Smith threw in the shot put event for the first time this spring with a throw of 11.25m(36’11”).
Britney Fisher and Rachel Redding improved both of their season-best marks with throws of 40.29m(132’2″) and 37.27m(122’3″), respectively. Fisher improved her season-best by nearly seven feet, while Redding eclipsed her previous season-best by more than four feet.
For the men’s squad, there were several student-athletes who competed in their events for the first time this spring or who improved their season-best marks.
The 100-meter dash, Anthony Johnson set a new season-best with a time of 11.54 seconds, eclipsing his previous season-best by fifteen seconds.
Jacob Almond set a new season-best time in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.26 seconds, eclipsing his previous season-best by approximately a second.
Leonard Jackson, in his first time running the 400 this spring, recorded a time of 51.07 seconds.
Gerardo Delafuente improved his time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase event by more than 25 seconds, with a time of 10:36.86, eclipsing his previous season-best of 11:01.92. In his first time of running in the event, Alfredo Soto recorded a time of 10:08.85 in the steeplechase event.
Sammie Ervan improved his season-best mark in the long jump event, with a jump of 5.63m(19’6.5″), improving his previous season-best jump by nearly two feet.
Next up for the Lions is a meet hosted by McMurry on Thursday, April 5 in Abilene. After the McMurry meet, the Lions will then participate at the University of North Texas Invitational, which is hosted by UNT and will take place on April 14.