LUBBOCK, Texas – Led by junior Andrew Hudson's throw in the discus and freshman Johnathan Farquharson's performance in the 100-meter dash, Abilene Christian athletes Thursday registered a combined eight season-best NCAA provisional marks at the Red Raider Open hosted by Texas Tech.
The single-day midweek meet served as the Wildcats' final tune up for the Lone Star Championships, which runs from May 2-4 in Canyon, Texas on the campus of West Texas A&M.
Hudson recorded a personal record of 181-feet, 4 inches (55.19) in the discus to finish fifth overall in a talented field that included the three Americans who represented Team USA at the 2012 London Games: Lance Brooks, Jarred Rome and Jason Young. Young won the competition with a distance of 202-4 (61.68m), followed by Brooks (197-10/60.29m), Rome (193-5/58.96m) and Tech sophomore Kole Weldon (190-4, 58.02m).
Hudson's mark was more than three feet better than his previous season best of 177-06 recorded at last week's Michael Johnson Dr. Pepper Classic, and moved him into fourth place on the D-II performance list behind Tiffin's Macklin Tudor (188-4), Pittsburg State's John Talbert (186-8) and Findlay's Derrick Vicars (183-6).
In the hammer, Hudson missed the NCAA provisional standard by a mere six feet as his best throw landed at the 171-10 mark (52.37m), which was good for third place.
Elsewhere in the throws, Amelia Mitchell attained a personal record in the javelin (145-4/44.28m), as did Shalaina Lakey, who won the hammer with a toss of 168-7 (51.39m).
Mitchell's effort ranks 10th nationally, which should be enough to get her to nationals. Lakey's mark ranks her 21st.
On the track, Farquharson clocked an altitude-adjusted time of 10.36 seconds in the 100-meter dash to finish third overall behind Shavez Hart and Trevorvano Mackey of South Plains. Farquharson's time missed the automatic standard by .06 seconds, but was a season best by .18 seconds and currently ranks him fourth in all of D-II.
Farquharson also ran the third leg for a 4x100-meter relay that placed second with a 17th-ranked provisional time of 40.94. Osei Allyene-Forte, Devan Brown and Darian Hogg joined him on the relay.
As individuals, Brown ran his first provisional time in the 100m (10.57) and also had a PR in the 200m of 21.55, which is only a tenth off the provisional mark. Hogg, meanwhile, had a PR in the triple jump of 48-3.5 (14.72m), moving him to 20th on the national list and also had a season best of 22-10.5 (6.97m) in the long jump.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats had several personal records negated by a strong panhandle wind. These performances included Jeremy Tatham's 14.88 and Luke Woods' 15.40 in the 110-meter hurdles, each of which were accompanied by a 5.1 meter per second wind.
Tatham, however, did come through with a PR in the 400m hurdles of 55.86.
On the women's side, senior Chloe Susset recorded a PR in the 800m of 2:15.88 and won the 1500 with a time of 4:38.66.
The women's 4x400 ran for the first time of the season, bolstered by the return of Elea Diarra, and posted a provisional mark of 3:48.34 that ranks 19th in D-II. Shennae Steele, Karolyn Palmer and Ayesha Rumble ran the first three legs prior to Diarra's anchor lap.
Diarra placed eighth in the 200m at 25.12 for her lone individual race.
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ACU Men's Results
100 meters
3.) Johnathan Farquharson – *10.36 (+3.7w)
(ranked fourth in D-II)
(converted from 10.33 for altitude)
7.) Devan Brown – *10.60 (+3.9w)
(ranked 31st in D-II
(converted from 10.57 for altitude)
200 meters
6.) Johnathan Farquharson – *21.34 (+1.5w)
8.) Jordan Geary – 21.40 (+1.5w)
9.) Devan Brown – 21.55 (+1.5w)
400 meters
12.) Jordan Geary – 48.89
13.) Osei Allyene-Forte – 49.11
800 meters
10.) Banjo Jaiyesimi – 1:57.71
22.) Taylor Ochs – 2:03.17
1500 meters
4.) Xavier King – 4:07.97
25.) Taylor Ochs – 4:30.76
27.) Erik Forrister – 4:35.51
110 hurdles
7.) Jeremy Tatham – 14.88 (+5.1w)
14.) Luke Woods – 15.40 (+5.0w)
400 hurdles
12.) Jeremy Tatham – 55.86
4x100 relay
2.) ACU 'A' – *40.94
(Osei Allyene-Forte, Devan Brown, Johnathan Farquharson, Darian Hogg)
(ranked 17th in D-II)
(converted from 40.82 for altitude)
4x400 relay
3.) ACU 'A' – 3:16.88
(Osei Allyene-Forte, Darian Hogg, Banjo Jaiyesimi, Jordan Geary)
Pole Vault
11.) Parker Petty – 13-10/4.22m
Long Jump
10.) Darian Hogg – 22-10.5/6.97m (+3.0w)
11.) Keaton Hart – 21-9/6.63m (+3.9w)
17. Luke Woods – 19-2/5.84m (+2.3w)
Triple Jump
4.) Darian Hogg – *48-3.5/14.72m (+3.7w)
(ranked 20th in D-II)
Discus
5.) Andrew Hudson – *181-1/55.19m
(ranked fourth in D-II)
13.) Aaron Bynum – 149-2/45.46m
Hammer
3.) Andrew Hudson – 171-10/52.37m
6.) Jelani Rainey – 153-8/46.83m
Javelin
3.) Aaron Bynum – 164-5/50.12m
ACU Women's Results
100 meters
10.) Karolyn Palmer – 12.25 (+3.8w)
13.) Amanda Ouedraogo – 15.68 (+5.2w)
200 meters
4.) Shennae Steele – *24.33 (+1.02w)
8.) Elea Diarra – 25.12 (+2.6w)
400 meters
3.) Shennae Steele – 56.44m
800 meters
4.) Ayesha Rumble – 2:15.00
7.) Chloe Susset – 2:15.88
1500 meters
1.) Chloe Susset – *4:38.66
9.) Emily Hill – 5:08.32
21.) Rachel Belcher – 6:03.52
5000 meters
5.) Alyse Goldsmith – 18:53.48
100 hurdles
5.) Lexus Williams – *14.12 (+4.6w)
4x400 relay
3.) ACU 'A' – *3:48.78
(Shennae Steele, Karolyn Palmer, Ayesha Rumble, Elea Diarra)
(ranked 19th in D-II)
(adjusted from 3:48.34 for altitude)
Shot Put
5.) Tara Riley – 43-6/13.26m
Discus
4.) Tara Riley – *143-7/43.77m
Hammer
1.) Shalania Lakey – *168-7/51.39m
(ranked 21st in D-II)
2.) Lauren Hartwick – 158-1/48.18m
Javelin
2.) Ameilia Mitchell – *145-3/44.28m
(ranked 10th in D-II)
5.) Tara Riley – 125-9/38.34m
