BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi track & field team go off to a quick start in the SLC Indoor Championships with a pair of podium finishes Sunday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
The Islanders got the chance to stand on the podium twice on day one of the SLC Indoor Championships, and those athletes were not unfamiliar to standing up there. Graduate
Dennis Kipngeno defended his own and repeated as the men's 5000m gold medalist after running a 14:33.04 time. Junior
Kelvin Kimaiyo also earned another podium finish in the event, coming in right behind Kipngeno with a 14:33.43 race to finish second, improving on his third-place finish last year.
The men then closed out a third-place finish in the distance medley relay where Kipngeno,
Enock Kimutai,
John Moreno, and Matthew Flores ran a 10:02.31 to take home bronze. Kimutai was near a podium finish in the 5,000m after crossing the line at 14:37.79 to finish sixth.
Other notable performances in the men's 5000m were
Rogerio Gomez and Landon Blankenship who both ran lifetime bests in the event. Gomez finished 11
th after running a 14:53.20 while Blankenship rounded the team out at 16
th with a 15:06.24 time.
"On the men's side, today was near a perfect day," said first-year head coach Bryan Jackson. "A few things didn't go our way, but I am extremely proud of Dennis, Kelvin, and Enock for how they competed in both the 5,000m and the distance medley. Those two events led to all 27 of our points. Also on the men's side, a few men came up short of scoring but had lifetime performances in the pursuit.
"For the women, they in a lot of ways exceeded my expectations. The day kicked off with a huge performance from Faith to start our team scoring, finishing fifth in the 5,000m. Also, coming up big in the long jump was Nyadhol with her season best to get seventh. I am very proud of how Chloe, Kate, and Riley raced to secure a spot in the final of their event and a season-best in the DMR to finish fifth," said Jackson.
The women's side also found success in the 5,000m as freshman
Faith Ramos kicked it off with a fifth-place showing after running an 18:01.30 in her first collegiate championship race.
Going the distance in the mile was Chloe Grafing Garcia who qualified for the finals after running a 5:09.09 in the prelims. Also qualifying for an events' finals were
Riley Cowan and
Kate Brockman, both in the 800m. Cowan finished fourth overall in the preliminary round with a 2:17.79 time while Brockman ran a 2:19.21 to qualify at seventh.
The three will look to take advantage of those scoring opportunities tomorrow as the SLC Indoor Championships will come conclude Monday. Both the men and the women will also look to finish strong with scoring opportunities in the triple jump, 3,000m race, and 4x400m relay.
In the field,
Nyadhol Thichiot jumped her personal best of a 5.55 in the long jump. She will look to compete in the triple jump tomorrow after she jumped a conference-best last meet in the event. Also going for continued success in the event tomorrow will be freshman
Damacio Hooks who went three-for-three in the regular season for recording a program top-10 triple jump.
The Islanders are sitting in improved standings compared to last season, as the men sit in fourth while the women finished sixth after the first day. The final day is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with the running events.
Men's Standings
1. UIW (48)
2. Northwestern State (32)
3. Lamar (31)
T4. A&M-Corpus Christi (27)
T4. McNeese (27)
T4. Southeastern (27)
7. A&M-Commerce (17)
8. HCU (16)
9. New Orleans (8)
10. Nicholls (0)
Women's Standings
1. Northwestern State (56)
2. Lamar (45)
3. UIW (39)
4. New Orleans (32)
5. McNeese (29)
6. A&M-Corpus Christi (10)
T7. Nicholls (7)
T7. A&M-Commerce (7)
9. Southeastern (6)
10. HCU (3)
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