HOUSTON – The Texas A&M – Corpus Christi track and field team opened its indoor season by
breaking eight school records, nine student-athletes placing in the top-5 or better and one event title at the Houston Indoor Opener Friday at Yeoman Fieldhouse. The meet featured several Southland Conference members as well as other schools the area, including Stephen F. Austin, UTSA, Houston Baptist, Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern, Sam Houston State, and Lamar.
"We went over there to see the kids compete against some quality competition and they did exactly that," said head coach Shawn Flanagan. "I was quite pleased with a good early-season outing. The times in our track events were not where they need to be but we are going to get there, but what we did see is that these younger kids will go out and compete against good competition so we're really happy about that."
The men's distance medley squad shined for the Islanders in the opener, capturing the teams only event title of the day. Steven Galli, Valentinas Rudys, Paul Hansel and Logan Pittdman teamed up to finished the medley in a time of 10:45.09.
With a team loaded with young talent, the underclassmen did not disappoint as several wrote their names in the Islanders record books.
Omesha Locke (12.16m) and Adrienne Nickleson (10.99) claimed the first and second spot in the history books in the weight throw with their finishes during the opener. Nickleson also finished fifth overall in the shot put, scoring on a throw of 12.98m, making her the schools all-time leader. Freshman Ben Clark wrote his name in the record book with a weight throw of 12.36m, making him the school all-time leader.
Kerissa Wiley claimed third place in the high jump, breaking her previous school record with a jump of 1.67m. James Whiteside placed 4th in the triple jump with a 14.20m (46-07.25) finish. The jump puts him third in the record book.
In the 60m events, school records on both the men's and women's side were broken. Freshman Kemar Mowatt, in his first collegiate meet, placed second all-time in Islanders history with a 8.43 finish in the 60m hurdles. On the women's side junior Ebony Collins finished with a time of 7.71 in the 60m dash, which was good enough for sixth all-time. Chloe Young (9.20) and Prea Petitt (9.27) finished ninth and tenth in the 60m hurdles, respectively.
Rudys (4:20.33) and Pittdman (4:22.07) also excelled in the mile race, finishing fourth and fifth in the event, respectively. Hansel, a senior, garnered a third-place finish in the 800m event, finishing the race with a time of 1:55.26.
Freshman Carissa Piñón took second place in the women's 5000m event with an overall time of 19:52.20 while Andres Salazar took fourth place in the 400m race with a time of 50.94.
For the latest information, follow the teams on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersTFXC) and Facebook (Texas A&M Corpus Christi Track & Field/Cross Country).
Women's Notable Performances
60m Dash: Ebony Collins, 6th of 15, 7.71, SR-Sixth All-time
Weight Throw: Omesha Locke, 11th of 14, 12.16m (39-10.75) SR-First All-time
Weight Throw: Adrienne Nickleson, 13th of 14, 10.99 (36-00.75) SR-Second All-time
Shot Put: Adrienne Nickleson, 5th of 22, 12.98m (42-07.50) SR-First All-time
High Jump: Kerissa Wiley, 3rd of 18, 1.67m (5-05.75) SR-First All-time
Men's Notable Performances
60m Hurdles: Kemar Mowatt, 13th of 15, 8.43, SR-Second All-time
Weight Throw: Ben Clark, 16th of 17, 12.36m (40-06.75) SR-First All-time
Triple Jump: James Whiteside, 4th of 6, 14.20 (46-07.25) SR-Third All-time
Women's Top-5 Performances
High Jump: Kerissa Wiley, 3rd of 18, 1.67m (5-05.75)
Shot Put: Adrienne Nickleson, 5th of 22, 12.98m (42-07.50)
Distance Medley: 5th of 6, 13:14.19
5000m: Carissa Piñón, 2nd of 3, 19:52.20
Men's Top-5 Performances
Distance Medley (Galli, Rudys, Hansel, Pittdman): 1st of 4, 10:45.09
800m: Paul Hansel, 3rd of 30, 1:55.26
400m: Andres Salazar, 4th of 17, 50.94
Mile: Valentinas Rudys, 4th of 39, 4:20.33
Mile: Logan Pittdman, 5th of 39, 4:22.07
Triple Jump: James Whiteside, 4th of 6, 14.20 (46-07.25)
