ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Wildcats' second trip to the Albuquerque Convention Center was just as good as its first from two weeks ago as several sprinters adjusted the school record books while continuing their climb up the national rankings at Saturday's Don Kirby Open.
Coming off an impressive outing at the Armory College Invitational, Junior Reyare Thomas entered this week as ACU's headline attraction at the University of New Mexico-hosted event and she did not disappoint, winning both the 60 and 200-meter dash titles with season best times of 7.45 and 23.88 seconds.
Thomas' mark in the 60m is currently the third fastest among all D-II student-athletes and ranks her fourth all-time at ACU between Joella Foster's 7.40 and Shennae Steele's 7.70. Her 200m time was a season best by .03 seconds, giving her a new school record for the second straight week. Thomas broke Kim Prather's four-year old record in the 200m last Saturday at the Armory with a time of 23.98 to finish ninth.
Steele also ran well in the 200m this weekend as she finished sixth overall in 24.39 to place her 12th in D-II and third all-time at ACU, behind Thomas, Prather and Wanda Hutson (24.27). Hutson also holds the Wildcat 60m record of 6.94.
Additional season bests recorded on the track Saturday included Elea Diarra's runner-up and fourth-ranked time of 54.46 in the 400m, Ayesha Rumble's 18th-ranked mark of 2:15.72 in the 800m and Lexus Williams' No. 22 ranked time of 8.82 in the 60m hurdles.
In the field, senior Amanda Ouedraogo won her second triple jump title of the season with a distance of 41 feet-00.25 inches (12.50m) and moved up to 12th in the long jump rankings with her seventh-place leap of 18-08.50 (5.70m).
On the men's side, freshman sprinter Johnathan Farquharson clocked a third-place 60m time of 6.75 to move into fourth place all-time at ACU and recorded the Wildcats' second-fastest 200m time since 2008, crossing the finish line fifth at 21.41.
Nic Alexander has held the school's 60m indoor record of 6.57 since 2003. He is followed on the top-10 list by Desmond Jackson (6.64), Christie Van Wyk (6.65) and Farquharson (6.75).
ACU's indoor 200m records have Jackson with the school's fastest time of 21.03, which was recorded in March of 2011 at the D-II Championships. Senior Jordan Geary – who placed fifth this weekend in the 400m (48.72) – owns ACU's third-best 200m time of 21.47.
Elsewhere on the track, senior Banjo Jaiyesimi won the 800m in 1:57.31 and ran anchor for the winning 4x400m relay that completed its race in 3:20.09. Joining Jaiyesimi on the relay were Osei Allyene-Forte, Geary, and freshman Devin Brown.
Rookie Jeremy Tatham placed third in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.38 and freshman Keaton Hart took fifth in the long jump with a top distance of 21-07.25 (6.58m).
The Wildcats return to action in two weeks for the Lone Star Conference Championships, which will take place Feb. 23 to 24 at Texas Tech's Athletic Training Center.
ACU Men's Results
60 Meters (Finals)
3.) Johnathan Farquharson - 6.75* (6.77 w/altitude conversion) (4th best in NCAA D-II)
60 Meters (Prelims)
6.) Johnathan Farquharson - 6.84*
31.) Devin Brown - 7.13
200 Meters
5.) Johnathan Farquharson - 21.41* (21.48 w/altitude conversion) (6th best in NCAA D-II)
20.) Darian Hogg - 22.27
24.) Devin Brown - 22.39
29.) Osei Allyene-Forte - 22.72
31.) Keaton Hart - 23.09
32.) Jeremy Tatham - 23.12
400 Meters
5.) Jordan Geary - 48.72*
800 Meters
1.) Banjo Jaiyesimi - 1:57.31
Mile
7.) Xavier King - 4:27.96
11.) Erik Forrister - 4:40.12
60 Hurdles (Finals)
3.) Jeremy Tatham - 8.38
60 Hurdles (Prelims)
5.) Jeremy Tatham - 8.38
4x400 Relay
1.) Allyene-Forte, Geary, Brown, Jaiyesimi - 3:20.09
Long Jump
5.) Keaton Hart - 21-7.25 (6.58m)
11.) Darian Hogg - 20-4.25 (6.20m)
14.) Malcolm Barnes - 20-0.5 (6.11m)
Triple Jump
5.) Malcolm Barnes - 45-8 (13.92m)
ACU Women's Results
60 Meters (Finals)
1.) Reyare Thomas - 7.45* (7.47 w/altitude conversion) (3rd best in NCAA D-II)
60 Meters (Prelims)
1.) Reyare Thomas - 7.55*
13.) Shennae Steele - 7.75*
23.) Karolyn Palmer - 7.94
200 Meters
1.) Reyare Thomas - 23.88# (new school record) (23.95 w/altitude conversion) (4th best in NCAA D-II)
6.) Shennae Steele - 24.39* (24.46 w/altitude conversion) (12th best in NCAA D-II)
20.) Karolyn Palmer - 25.56
33.) Lexus Williams - 26.62
400 Meters
2.) Elea Diarra - 54.46# (54.57 w/altitude conversion) (4th best in NCAA D-II)
800 Meters
4.) Ayesha Rumble - 2:15.72* (2:14.96 w/altitude conversion) (18th best in NCAA D-II)
14.) Emily Hill - 2:24.13
Mile
16.) Alyse Goldsmith - 5:39.65
60 Hurdles (Prelims)
9.) Lexus Williams - 8.82* (8.84 w/altitude conversion) (22nd best in NCAA D-II)
13.) Cassie Brooks - 9.04
4x400 Meter Relay
2.) Steele, Diarra, Thomas, Rumble - 3:52.35*
High Jump
8.) Cassie Brooks - 5-1 (1.55m)
Long Jump
7.) Amanda Ouedraogo - 18-8.5 (5.70m) / (12th best in NCAA D-II)
24.) Cassie Brooks - 15-11.75 (4.87m)
Triple Jump
1.) Amanda Ouedraogo - 41-0.25 (12.50m)#
