COLUMBIA, S.C. --- The Mississippi College indoor track and field programs recorded a strong weekend at the University of South Carolina Invitational on Friday, January 28th and Saturday, January 29th. The Choctaws combined for eight school records and three event titles against a field that featured 16 Division I programs.
 
Al Ferrill and Jazmin Hernandez each made history in their performances. Ferrill finished second in the men's shot put as he broke his school record with a throw of 16.06 meters. He became the first Choctaw in program history to break 16 meters indoors.
 
Hernandez breaks her school record in the mile. The Georgetown, Texas, native posted a time of 4:53.75 as she finished fourth in the event. She becomes the first Choctaw to break the five-minute mark in program history.

MC also picked up a sweep in the distance medley relays with both the men's and women's teams picking up the titles and also setting school-records. The men's team consisting of Cole Benoit, Gabe Hodson, Jake Russell, and Hunter Kurz picked up the title with a time of 9:47.93. Their time also marked the third fastest time in Division II this season.

The women's relay time won the title and set the school-record with a time of 11:55.71. The women's relay team consisted of Kathy Hammond, Ereyonna Gore, Emma Langley, and Hernandez. Their time marked the fourth fastest time in Division II this year.
 
Cole Benoit added a school record time of 8:07.67 in the men's 3,000 meters. The time nabbed him the fourth-fastest time in Division II this season along with a fifth-place finish in the event.
 
Fabio Palmieri joined the school-record breakers as he finished second in the men's 400 meters. Palmieri clocked a 48.05. Also, in the sprints, Shemar Patten posted a school-record time of 8.15 in the men's 60 hurdles to qualify for the finals. He finished eighth in the finals with a time of 8.21.

Palmieri picked up his 2nd school-record of the weekend in the invite section of the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.52, which was good for 5th in the event. It also set an indoor PR.
 
Tytavia Hardy set a school record in the women's 60 hurdles qualifying round with a time of 8.66, which grabbed her second place. She clocked an 8.84 in the preliminaries to finish 12th, but not advance to the event finals.

Hardy continued to impress on Saturday as she picked up a top five finish in the women's Triple Jump with a distance of 12.07 meters.

Christian Balcer and Gabe Poulin also put in strong showings in the men's 5K on Saturday as the pair finished in the top two spots with Balcer picking up the event title with a time of 14:33.37. This was also a PR for Balcer. Poulin finished second with a time of 14:34.68
 
A pair of Choctaws finished in the top five of the mile. Hunter Kurz led the duo with a second-place finish as he clocked a time of 4:07.72. Balcer turned in a time of 4:10.96 as he finished fifth in the event.

Ferrill also picked up another top five finish on Saturday as he finished fourth with a distance of 16.58 meters.

Wesley Gibbs picked up a top five finish in the men's 800 meter as he ran a 1:53.28 to finish fourth.
 
Kathy Hammond finished seventh in the women's 3,000 with a personal-record time of 10:14.22. Brock Kelly posted a PR time of 8:31.86 in the men's 3K to finish 10th.

Emma Langley picked up a tenth place finish in the women's 800 meter on Saturday as she had a time of 2:16.69. Leslie Baxter also picked up a PR as she finished 18th in the event with a time of 2:19.71. 

Ezra McCaw finished 16th in the women's 200 meter dash on Saturday with a time of 25.49. 

Gore also finished 16th in the women's 400 meter with a time of 59.10. 
 
Mississippi College returns to action in two weeks at the Grand Valley State Big Meet on Friday, February 11th.