AZUSA, Calif. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi track & field team will split once again in another weekend of competition, with a group of seven heading to the Bryan Clay Invite, hosted by Azusa Pacific, Thursday through Saturday with the rest of the squad to compete at Stephen F. Austin Friday and Saturday.
Some distance runners and jumpers will make the trip out west, with
Dennis Kipngeno,
Kelvin Kimaiyo, Emil Hajjaj, and
Faith Ramos racing the track while
Damacio Hooks,
Myla Tate, and
Nyadhol Thichiot will compete in the triple and long jump events.
The rest of the squad will compete in-state at SFA this weekend.
"We have another great weekend of opportunities split up over two meets," said head coach Bryan Jackson. "I'm looking forward to this final stretch of meets before we enter the championship phase. This is the time of outdoor season you really start seeing what type of team you have."
It will be the third weekend of the outdoor season, as the Islanders will look to build off some successes in the previous two meets. In the season opener, A&M-Corpus Christi competed in the Victor Lopez Invite at Rice which was highlighted by the first-place finish of Hooks in the triple jump. With the lifetime best 14.69m jump, he brought home gold while also placing in the program's top-10 for the event, his fourth time to do so this year.
He has steadily improved along with fellow jumpers Tate and Thichiot. Tate won gold in the triple jump at the SLC Indoor Championships and has continued jumping well in the event as well as Thichiot who records the third best triple jump in the SLC outdoor season with a 12.28m at Rice. She also ranks top-10 in the league in high jump with a 5.65m at Texas State.
On the same weekend as the Texas State Bobcat Invitational, the women's 4x800m group raced in the Texas Relays and broke a program record as
Kate Brockman,
Riley Cowan,
Chloe Garcia Grafing, and
Sharon Kiprop ran a 9:19.02s time in the event, the second best time in the conference.
Kimaiyo and
Enock Kimutai are both top-six in the league in the outdoor 5,000m race. It comes after Kimaiyo placed second at the SLC Indoor Championships, right behind Kipngeno who won gold in the event.
Hajjaj ranks sixth out of 49 in the league in the 800, after he ran a 1:52.70s time at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic where he finished 30th out of 213 participants. It also marked his personal record as he placed onto the program's top-10 again for the event ranking second all-time, beating his previous 1:53.27 mark that placed him third in the program.
Both meets will be available to follow along with live results.
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