Track & Field | 1/15/2017 6:42:00 AM
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Fresh off a redshirt season in cross country, senior Michaela Hackett won her first race of the 2017 indoor campaign Saturday afternoon by coming from behind to beat Baylor's Lindsey Bradley on the final lap of the Texas A&M Team Invitational 3,000-meter run.
Hackett posted a personal record time of 9:35.24 in her first indoor 3K, claiming the second fastest time in school history. The varsity record belongs to her twin sister, Alexandria, who ran a 9:33.83 last winter in Seattle at the Washington Invitational.
Bradley placed second in 9:37.74 followed by her teammate Peyton Thomas, Texas A&M's Kelsie Warren, and ACU sophomore Carnley Graham, who clocked a fifth-place time of 9:59.16. Graham also was making her 2016-17 season debut as she redshirted her 2016 cross country season.
Hackett's and Graham's efforts gave the ACU women 27 points for the meet, which was good for seventh place out of eight teams as the Wildcats edged UT Arlington by one point in the team standings.
Texas A&M won its home meet with 168.5 points. Baylor was the runner-up with 128 points and Texas was third with 113. Texas State, UT San Antonio and Stephen F. Austin placed fourth through sixth with the Ladyjacks beating the Wildcats by only one point.
The Wildcats' women's team additionally received fourth-place points from sophomore Lonnie Smith in the weight throw. Smith launched the weight a personal best 55 feet-3 inches (16.84m) to tie Ranessa Crawford for the fifth-best throw in school history. Crawford recorded her mark in March of 1998 to win the meet title at Arkansas.
ACU combined to score 12 points from its three 5K runners on Friday night in College Station. Newcomers Sierra Bennett and Natalie Jackson placed fifth and sixth, respectively, with times of 19:18.34 and 20:09.32, while North Florida transfer Travis Nichols finished fourth in 15:42.78.
Nichols' five points accounted for more than half of the men's team's final point total as the Wildcats picked up a handful of eighth-place finishes during Saturday's competitions. Freshman Avery Williams topped classmate Ryan Linton for the eighth-place point in the 200-meter dash, 21.96 to 21.97. Rookie Riley Ellis reached a height of 6-4 (1.93m) in the high jump and junior Wyatt French registered a distance of 22-1 (6.73m) in the long jump.
The Aggies won the men's meet with 141 points with Texas second at 137 and Baylor a distant third with 97 points.
ACU track and field returns to action in two weeks for Oklahoma's J.D. Martin Invitational, which takes place Jan. 28 in Norman, Okla.
ACU Results at the Texas A&M Team Invitational
Women's 5,000-meter Run
5.) Sierra Bennett - 19:18.34
6.) Natalie Jackson - 20:09.32
Men's 5,000-meter Run
4.) Travis Nichols - 15:42.78
Women's 60m Prelims
21.) Jessica King - 7.93 (8th fastest in school history)
Men's 60m Prelims
11.) Ryan Linton - 6.98
19.) Avery Williams - 7.13
Women's 60m Hurdles Prelims
18.) Taylor Woods - 9.48
21.) Irene Akwitti - 9.69
Men's 60m Hurdles Prelims
17.) Wyatt French - 9.02 (PR)
Men's 1 Mile Finals
15.) Sterlen Paul - 4:20.79
18.) Reid Ivers - 4:23.02
21.) Lucas Bennett - 4:39.39
Women's 400m Dash Prelims
13.) Simone Green - 57.31
16.) Chartia Hurt - 1:00.08
Men's 400m Dash Prelims
19.) Lee-Andrew Bloomfield - 50.43
23.) Samuel Garcia - 51.25
Women's 200m Dash Finals
20.) Jessica King - 25.25
27.) Jamie Kennedy - 26.53
Men's 200m Dash Finals
8.) Avery Williams - 21.96
9.) Ryan Linton - 21.97
Women's 3,000m Run Finals
1.) Michaela Hackett - 9:35.24 (PR and second fastest time in ACU history)
5.) Carnley Graham - 9:59.16
Men's 3,000m Run Finals
13.) Ryan Cleary - 8:40.80 (PR)
Women's 4x400m Relay
11.) Chartia Hurt, Kimone Green, Jamie Kennedy, Jessica King - 3:56.85
15.) Taylor Woods, Brielle Collett, Michaela Hackett, Irene Akwitti - 4:22.27
Men's 4x400m Relay
14.) Avery Williams, Ryan Linton, Sam Garcia, Lee—Andrew Bloomfield - 3:21.92
Women's High Jump
12.) Irene Akwitti - 1.59, (5-2.50)
Men's High Jump
8.) Riley Ellis - 1.93m (6-4)
Women's Long Jump
18.) Taylor Yantis - 4.77m (15-7.75)
20.) Irene Akwitti - 4.70m (15-5)
21.) Brielle Collett - 4.33m (14-2.5)
Men's Long Jump
8.) Wyatt French - 6.73m (22-1)
12.) Riley Ellis - 6.50m (21-4)
15.) Samuel Garcia - 5.83m (19-1.50) (PR)
Women's Weight Throw
4.) Lonnie Smith - 16.84m (55-3) (PR and tied for the fifth best in school history with Ranessa Crawford)
9.) Kayla Melgar - 15.60m (51-2.25)
17.) Taylor Posey - 12.78m (41-11.25)
Men's Weight Throw
9.) Morgan Knight - 15.88m (52-1.25)
15.) Ryan Simmons - 14.48m (47-6.25) (PR)
Women's Shot Put
9.) Annina Brandenburg - 13.49m (44-3.25)
10.) Lonnie Smith -12.72m (41-8.75)
21.) Taylor Posey - 11.04m (36-2.75)
Men's Shot Put
12.) Joshua Hunter - 14.51m (47-7.25)
15.) Morgan Knight - 14.37m (47-1.75)
16.) Ryan Simmons - 14.30m (46-11) (PR)
Women's Team Scores
1.) Texas A&M - 168.5
2.) Baylor - 128
3.) Texas - 113
4.) Texas State - 64
5.) UTSA - 39.5
6.) Stephen F. Austin - 28
7.) Abilene Christian - 27
8.) UT-Arlington - 26
Men's Team Scores
1.) Texas A&M - 141
2. ) Texas - 137
3. ) Baylor - 97
4. ) Stephen F. Austin - 67.5
5.) UTSA - 65.5
6.) UT-Arlington - 46
7.) Texas State - 36
8.) Abilene Christian - 9
