HOUSTON – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi track & field team wrapped up its run at the Robert Platt Invitational in Houston on Saturday on a very high note, highlighting the day by knocking down two different school records and coming close to doing so in a number of other events as well.
The first record to fall came from a familiar face, with sophomore
Elizabeth Khatevi doing the honors in the women's mile after crossing the line in first place overall at the meet with a scorching time of 4:39.95. This toppled the previous top mark of 4:45.98 set by current teammate
Phylis Kibet – who came in not far behind in third place in the same race – at last year's Ted Nelson Invitational in College Station, and as of Saturday night, it currently ranks No. 53 in all of Division I. This was also Khatevi's second indoor school record of the young season, as she also took over first in the 3,000m at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on December 6.
The other member of the team to make history on Saturday was also someone with plenty of experience doing so in the past, as it came from junior
Emmanuel Ekuma in the men's shot put in his first taste of action this season. Ekuma topped out with a best throw of 17.21m in his sixth and final attempt of the day, a mark that moved past his own previous school record of 17.09m that earned him the silver medal at last year's Southland Conference Indoor Championships. For his efforts, he earned third place overall at the meet and ended the day just outside the top 100 in all of Division I.
After these two had already made their way to the top of the record books, sophomore
Kye Lowth very nearly did the same on the track in the men's 3,000m, posting an incredible personal-best of 8:08.86 that finished just five milliseconds shy of the record set by national champion Shadrack Songok nearly 18 years ago at the 2008 Southland Conference Championships. Despite the near miss, Lowth did take home the gold medal at the meet, and right behind him in second place was senior
Ewan Wheelwright, who himself finished with a time of 8:19.41 that got him up to sixth place on the school's all-time top 10.
In similar fashion to this race, the Islanders also had a pair of athletes show out in the same event earlier in the day, with sophomore
Kenya Ford and freshman
Colin Benton doing so in the men's 200m. Ford was the higher finisher of the two, coming in seventh place overall out of 72 with a time of 21.86s that debuted him all the way up at No. 4 in program history. Not far behind, Benton finished in 16
th with a time of 22.31s, a mark that also helped him crack the school's top 10 in ninth place. This marked both Ford and Benton's first time making it in the record books, with the two both doing so in just their second meets with the program.
"I am fired up about how this team looked here in the month of January!" Islanders head coach
Bryan Jackson said. "This is absolutely the best men's and women's team I have had during my time on the Island. If we continue to stay consistent and healthy over the next three weeks, we have the chance to have some special results when they matter the most at the end of indoor season."
The Islanders will now take this upcoming week to prepare before then heading to their final meet of the indoor regular season, which will once again take place at the University of Houston at the Howie Ryan Invitational on February 13.
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