CLINTON, Miss---The Mississippi College men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Samford Open on Saturday (January 22nd). In total the Choctaws picked up five event titles on the day and set four school records as well.
Jake Russell set a new school record in the 800 meter run while also picking up the event win with a time of 1:52.07.
Hunter Kurz followed closely behind in the 800m as he finished 3rd with a time of 1:54.83. Gabe Hodson finished 7th (1:56.05) and
Wesley Gibbs followed in 8th (1:56.99). Christina Balcer rounded out the group in the event in 13th (1:57.96).
Kurz continued his strong day as he picked up the event title and a school record in the mile with a time of 4:10.25. A plethora of Choctaws finished at the front of the pack in the mile as MC had five of the top six finishers. Behind Kurz; Balcer finished 2nd (4:11.98),
Cole Benoit came in 3rd (4:12.20),
Brock Kelly finished 4th (4:14.15), and
Gabe Poulin finished 6th (4:17.39).
Fabio Palmieri picked up the school record in the men's 400m dash with a time of 48.18 seconds which was good for a 3rd place finish. Robert Grames finished 14th in the event with a time of 50.72 and
Connor Stewart finished 21st with a time of 51.78.
Kiara Vance broke her own school record in the women's weight throw with a distance of 14.62 meters. She finished 9th in the event.
Sakari Faulkner finished 18th with a distance of 11.94 meters and Victoria Miles finished 22nd with a distance of 11.32 meters.
Emma Langley picked up the event title in the women's 800 meter run with a time of 2:19.89.
Jazmin Hernandez finished right behind Langley as she picked up a 2nd place finish with a time of 2:20.14.
Braedon Methvin topped the competition in the 5000 meter run with a time of 14:59.30 to pick up the event title.
The men's 4x400 relay team also finished 1st as the group of Hodson, Russell, Palmieri, and Gibbs finished with a time of 3:16.33.
Hernandez continued her strong day as she also finished 2nd in the mile with a time of 5:04.14. Also in the mile,
Madeline Campbell finished 5th (5:21.15),
Leslie Baxter finished 6th (5:21.92), and
Norma Gutierrez finished 14th (5:32.07).
The women's 4x400 team also put in a strong showing as the team of
Ezra McCaw, Ereyonne Gore, Baxter, and Langley ran a time of 4:02.99 which was good for 3rd place.
Kathy Hammond finished 3rd in the 3000 meter run with a time of 10:19.06.
Emily Berry also finished top 10 in the event as she came in 6th with a time of 10:40.65. Camila Chambers finished 12th (10:55.26) and
Lauren Wallace finished 20th (11:23.36).
Adrianna Burage finished high with a 3rd place finish in the high jump as she cleared a 1.52 meter jump.
Ryleigh Borbash finished 9th in the event with a height of 1.47 meters.
Al Ferrill had a strong showing in the shot put where his throw of 14.85 meters earned him a 3rd place finish. He also finished 12th in the weight throw with a distance of 14.06 meters.
Benjamin Woolhouse finished 3rd in the pole vault at a height of 4.42 meters.
McCaw finished 6th in the women's 400 meter dash with a time of 58.91 seconds. She was followed closely by Gore who ran a 59.01 which was good for 7th.
Shemar Patton finished 6th in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.48 seconds.
Marina Rizk finished 6th in the pole vault at 2.96 meters.
Christopher Garcia-Cloud finished 10th in the shot put with a distance of 12.73 meters and 17th in the weight throw with a distance of 12.61 meters.
The squads will next be in action next weekend as they travel to Columbia, SC for the South Carolina Invitational next Friday (Jan. 28th) and Saturday (Jan. 29th).
