RESULTS
SAN ANTONIO – The Texas A&M - Corpus Christi men's and women's track and field teams opened the outdoor season today at the University of Incarnate Word Cardinal Invitational. The Islanders marked several seasonal-best and had a strong night in the men's and women's 1500m at Tom Benson Track Stadium.
"It went pretty good today," Head Coach Shawn Flanagan said. "Quincy Obeng, Michael Diamond and Allison Baker all had seasonal-bests in the field events and BreAnna Briggs, Cecilia Jones and Patrick Kimeli all competed and finished."
Briggs, Jones and Kimeli, the Islanders three all-conference cross country runners, all returned to the Islanders' roster just in time for the outdoor season after suffering injures that held them out of competition during the indoor season.
The Islanders started the day in the long jump and high jump. Diamond marked a season-best mark of 6.80m in the men's long jump, which is good for fifth all-time while Obeng sealed second place in the men's high jump with a season-best clearance of 2.00m.
Baker also marked a season-best in the women's high jump with a mark of 1.55m, which ties the third best mark in school history.
The Islanders wrapped the day in the men's and women's 1500m. The men's team swept the top three spots with Valentinas Rudys, Daniel Barlow and Christoph Hintz leading the way. Rudys crossed the line in first place with a time of 4:03.95 while Barlow followed in second with a time of 4:04.45 and Hintz clocked a time of 4:05.26 for third place. Jason Garcia ran well in eighth place with a time of 4:09.43 after returning from an injury that held him out of the cross country season. Joel Gracia and Abel Koskey finished in 10th and 11th places, respectively in their first outdoor season with the Islanders.
On the women's side, Jasmine Boutte paced the team with a time of 4:50.54 to place second. Briggs, followed in eighth place with a time of 5:00.51, while Alexandra Fernandez finished two spots behind Briggs in 10th place with a time of 5:01.99. Vanessa Galindo and Kim Ward finished back-to-back in 11th and 12 places while Ashley Mills and Samantha Hardin placed in the top 20. Jones, Alexandria Rossi and Paola Perez rounded out the Islanders in the event.
The Islanders will continue the UIW Cardinal Invitational tomorrow. The women's team will compete in the 200m, 400m, 800m, 100m hurdles, triple jump and 4x400 meter relay while the men's team will compete in the 100m, 200m, 800m, triple jump and 4x400 meter relay.
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