LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi track & field team started the 2024 season on a high note with multiple individual successes at the Stan Scott Memorial, hosted by Texas Tech.
"I am happy with the starting point for many of the athletes that competed this weekend," said first-year head coach Bryan Jackson. "We have a lot of positive to build from, but like I told the team, no matter if their opener was the result they were hoping for or not, we all still have a lot of work to do to grow into the team we are capable of being at the indoor SLC Championships in six weeks."
It was a day that featured seven personal records and five instances of breaking into the program's record book. Triple jump had four of those five top-10 performances, as
Myla Tate jumped the program's fifth best at 11.75m. On the men's side, freshman
Damacio Hooks led the team with a 14.60m triple jump to rank fifth all-time in the program. Junior
Enoch Antwi jumped 11.53m to rank sixth all-time while freshman
King White jumped 13.34m to just squeak into the top-10.
It marked Tate's lifetime best in the event as well in the 60m dash with a time of 8.11s. In his collegiate debut, Hooks also tied for 10
th all-time in the program for his 60ms dash time of a 7.13.
Sophomore Matthew Flores also ran a lifetime best, turning in a time of 1:57.45 in the 800m to finish eighth overall in the event. It was a two-second improvement from his previous best which also topped his outdoor PR. Also in the top-10 for that event was sophomore Emil Hajjaj who finished sixth with a 1:57.03 time.
Setting personal records in the mile was junior
Logan Rickey (4:24.43), junior Landon Blankenship (4:25.44), and junior
Kate Brockman (5:15.73). Rickey, Blankenship, and junior
Gregorio Alcorta rounded out the top-10 in the event at eighth, ninth, and tenth, respectively.
Graduate Riley Cowen opened the day for the Islanders, running in her first-ever 1,000m race where she finished ninth overall with a 3:11.52 time. Also competing in a new event was senior
Yasmine Steele who won her heat in the 600y race with a time of 1:28.94. Steele also had the fastest split of the day in the 4x400m relay.
Junior
Nyadhol Thichiot recorded a 5.12m in her second jump for the long jump to set her new personal record. Another Islander to set a personal record was sophomore
Khiah Lara-Turner, running a 25.42 in the 200m dash.
Overall, the Islanders placed 10 athletes in the top-10 in their respective events while 10 freshmen made their college debut to help set a high bar in the first meet of the season. Freshman
Faith Ramos concluded her first meet with an eight-place finish in the mile with a time of 5:28.31.
The Islanders will next compete on Jan. 26-27 in the Robert Platt Invite, hosted by the University of Houston.
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