PITTSBURG, Kan. --- The Mississippi College Track and Field carried their momentum to the Pittsburg State Invitational held in Pittsburg, Kansas, adding three school records and recording 14 top-five finishes in a top-tier meet that featured several hundred competitors.
Kelechi Christian re-broke her own 60-meter school record that she set one week prior at the Samford Open, sprinting to a mark of 7.60 seconds. With that performance, Christian is now ranked No. 1 in the Gulf South Conference and No. 23 in NCAA Division II.
Niklas Klei made history in the Men's 400-meter dash, becoming the first Choctaw to go under 47 seconds in the 400-meter distance. Klei is also the first in NCAA Division II to accomplish this feat, which in turn ranks him as the No. 1 400-meter runner in NCAA Division II.
The cherry on top, in the last event for the Choctaws, the Men's 4x400-meter relay of Gabe Hodson, Will Grames, Connor Stewart, and Klei broke the Mississippi College Men's Indoor Track and Field 4x400-meter relay record, running 3:14.71. They now lead the Gulf South Conference, and are ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division II.
In total, it was another successful outing for the Choctaws, and the Mississippi College Track and Field team has now broken 22 school records during the 2023 Indoor Track and Field season.
Assistant Track and Field Coach Amy Withrow
*commenting on the experience gained at the highly competitive Pittsburg State Invitational
"This meet was super competitive. Our athletes deserved to be there and proved that multiple times. I was proud to see our runners, jumpers, and throwers show up and represent MC the correct way. Very excited for the future."
Post-meet Field statistics
-Ben Woolhouse won the Men's Pole Vault with a mark of 7.78 meters, just 0.02 meters off his school record that he set one week prior at the Samford Open.
-In the Women's Weight Throw, Essence Tornabene threw 16.82 meters, garnering a top-five finish.
-Lady Choctaws Haley Hall and Adrianna Burage placed inside the top 10 in the Women's High Jump. Hall, a freshman, hit a lifetime best of 1.57 meters, while Burage recorded a mark of 1.54 meters.
-Tytavia Hardy placed inside the top five in the Women's Triple Jump, jumping a season's best of 11.42 meters.
-In the Men's Triple Jump, Timothy Young placed sixth overall in a season's best of 14.17 meters.
Post-meet Track statistics
-In the Women's 1 mile, Jazmin Hernandez and Lauren Wallace made history. For the first time ever, two Lady Choctaws broke five minutes in the mile in the same race. Hernandez placed third in 4:58.72, while Wallace was fourth in 4:59.88. The pair then doubled back to record top 10 finishes in the Women's 800-meter run; Hernandez fifth in 2:17.16, and Wallace ninth in 2:18.54.
-Hollis Johnson recorded a top-five finish in the Men's 1 mile, running 4:16.80 to finish fourth overall. Mississippi College freshman Cooper Parmer also snuck into the top 10, running a lifetime best of 4:21.25. Parmer also doubled back to win section two of the Men's 3,000-meter run in 8:47.48.
-Shemar Patten, the 60-meter hurdles school record holder, finished fourth overall in his specialty event. Patten put down a mark of 8.12 seconds, just 0.03 seconds off his school record he set one week prior at the Samford Open.
-Hilary Udechukwu snagged a top 10 finish in the Women's 400-meter dash, recording an indoor lifetime best of 57.86 seconds to finish tenth overall.
-After setting a school record in the Women's 60-meter dash, Kelechi Christian won the fast section of the Women's 200-meter dash in 24.66 seconds, good enough for a third-place overall finish.
-The Lady Choctaws placed three athletes inside the top 10 in the Women's 3,000-meter run; Emily Berry, the school record holder, earned a fifth-place finish in 10:18.80. Norma Gutierrez and Ava Dickerson both recorded lifetime bests; Guiterrez seventh in 10:25.19, and Dickerson eighth in 10:25.74.
Up Next
The Choctaws will now look to the University of South Caroline Invitational to compete in another top-tier field of competition and chase more national qualifying marks.
