LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi track & field team wrapped up its final tune up before the Southland Conference Indoor Championships on Saturday, closing out the Jarvis Scott Invite at Texas Tech with another pair of podium finishes and multiple different climbs up the program's indoor record book.
"These teams are right where we need to be this time of year," said head coach
Bryan Jackson. "I couldn't be more excited about the indoor season we are having. We capped it off with another great showing this weekend at Texas Tech."
After securing two medals on the first day of the meet on Friday, the Islanders added another two to the ledger on Saturday, with both coming in the women's mile. The two athletes to accomplish this were freshmen
Phylis Kibet and
Alicia Finnis, as the two managed to follow up solid performances in the 800m on Friday with another strong race today. Kibet ended up taking home the silver after finishing with a time of 4:48.00, and Finnis came in right behind with the bronze at 4:53.82, which marked her new personal best in the event this season.
Beyond the two podium finishes, A&M-Corpus Christi also saw two more school records fall to make it four in total on the weekend. The record-setting performances both came in the shot put, with junior
Cyan Green rewriting the books on the women's side and sophomore
Emmanuel Ekuma doing the same for the men. Green actually broke her own mark that she set at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invite on January 10, improving slightly up to 14.85m, and Ekuma rose from third to first with a throw of 16.96m to surpass the previous high of 16.79 set by Hickel Woolery all the way back at the 2009 SLC Indoor Championships.
The sprinters also got a couple standout performances during their time on the track Saturday, starting with another excellent outing from senior
Khiah Lara-Turner. Competing in the women's 200m, Lara-Turner set a new personal best in the event with a time of 24.79 seconds, which moved her up from No. 10 to No. 4 in school history. This was her second foray into the record books this weekend, as she also climbed up to third in the 400m on Friday.
The other side of the same event also saw a very good effort from freshman
Jeremiah Batiste, who crossed the line in 22.11 seconds to move up five spots to No. 5 in Islanders history. Like Lara-Turner, this marked Batiste's second top 10 of the season, as he also grabbed the eighth spot in the 400m at the Charlie Thomas Invitational last week.
To close out the weekend, the Islanders saw relay teams on both squads put together their best showings of the season. On the men's side, the group of Batiste, freshmen
Dillon Smith and
Philip Jensen e Castro and senior
Emil Hajjaj finished the 4x400m race in 3:18.19, which was the ninth-best time ever for an A&M-Corpus Christi men's team. The women also reached ninth on their respective list as well, with the quartet of Lara-Turner, freshman
Edyn Breaux and seniors
Kate Brockman and
Chloe Garcia Grafing doing so by finishing in 3:55.27.
The Islanders will now have a few weeks to prepare before they travel to Birmingham, Alabama for the conclusion of the first part of their season at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships. The meet will take place over two days, kicking off on Sunday, March 2 before coming to a close the next day on Monday, March 3.
"You never know what's going to happen at a conference meet, but I know we are going to take our shot!" Jackson said. "These teams are young, and we have a very bright future ahead!"
#ShakasUp
