DALLAS – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi track & field team closed out the 2026 regular season at the SMU Invitational on Friday and Saturday, earning five gold medals and taking down three school records in an impressive final showing before the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships in two weeks.
The Islanders first got in action on Friday evening, taking part in just a few events but still making an early impact. The first for the team was the men's hammer throw, where
Emmanuel Ekuma took home the silver with a best throw of 54.13m. Right behind him,
Samson Black placed fourth at 53.20m, and
Nico Silva and
Zane Stephen recorded new personal bests at 42.36m and 30.67m respectively. For Silva, this moved him up a spot to No. 6 all-time in program history, while Stephen made his debut at No. 10 on the same list.
On the other side of the same event, A&M-Corpus Christi got its first gold medal of the meet, which came from
Breyunna Dowell for her second in as many meets after finishing with a best throw of 56.36m. Another one would come right after this as well, as on the track,
Gary Custer wrapped up the night with a win of his own in the men's 5000m with a personal best time of 15:01.42, which secured the first victory of his freshman campaign.
The Islanders would get back to their winning ways once Saturday rolled around, beginning in the women's shot put when
Natalia Rankin-Chitar won the gold with a top mark of 15.00m flat.
Cyan Green finished immediately after her teammate by topping out at 14.89m to earn silver, and lower down the final standings, Dowell continued her nice weekend by reaching 13.01m to make her way to 10
th in program history in the event.
Moving over to the track,
Elizabeth Khatevi got back in action after winning Southland Conference Women's Track Athlete of the Week in her last time out and put together yet another impressive showing in the women's 1500m, taking home the gold after finishing with a blazing-fast time of 4:14.27. Right behind her, teammate
Phylis Kibet earned herself the silver after she crossed the line in 4:19.13, and
Alicia Finnis posted a 10
th place finish with a time of 4:28.49 that earned her the No. 4 spot in the event in program history.
The final individual win of the weekend was achieved by
Kye Lowth, who did so in the men's 1500m while making history at the same time. Lowth crossed the line in his race with a time of 3:46.06, which just narrowly broke the previous school record of 3:46.24 set by A&M-Corpus Christi Hall of Honor Inductee Shadrack Songok more than 20 years ago back on April 5, 2006. This marked the second of Songok's school records that Lowth has managed to take down throughout the course of this season, with the Australian also doing so in the indoor 3000m back on February 16 at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston.
Lowth's standout effort was one of two school records that the Islanders took down on the track, with the other one coming from fellow sophomore
Dillon Smith in the 800m, who broke his own top mark by recording a new personal best time of 1:48.73 that was good for bronze at the meet. The last record to be broken came from the jumps group to complete the all-around effort for the team, as
Armando Rivera did so in the triple jump by reaching 15.09m to become the first Islander to ever clear the 15-meter mark in the event. Like Smith, this also got Rivera a bronze medal, and it marked his second school record of the year after he also did so in the indoor portion of the same event at the Southland Conference Championships in late February.
"What a way to finish the season!" Islanders head coach
Bryan Jackson said. "I am very pleased with how both teams competed in our final competitive opportunity before the championship phase of the season. Between the school records and the event wins, we had a great showing across the board. We also very likely secured a few more spots in the NCAA postseason."
The Islanders will now take next week to prepare before heading out to the most important meet of the outdoor season, culminating things at the 2026 Southland Conference Outdoor Championships in Nacogdoches from May 14-16.
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