Abilene’s Hunter tops Southland discus rankings

Thursday, April 27

Abilene, Texas

2 p.m.

Abilene Christian

ACU Wildcat Open

Photo by: Tim Nelson

Abilene’s Hunter tops Southland discus rankings

4/28/2017 7:46:00 AM | Track & Field

2017 Wildcat Open Results

ABILENE – Abilene native and junior Josh Hunter climbed to the top of Southland Conference performance list after placing third in the discus Thursday night at the inaugural Wildcat Open hosted by ACU and Elmer Gray Stadium.

Hunter recorded a lifetime best distance of 178 feet, 8 inches (54.47 meters) competing against 18 individuals on his third attempt of the evening, finishing behind two teammates who were competing unattached. Kai Schmidt won the event with a distance of 188-0 (57.30m) and Morgan Knight placed second with a throw that measured 183-3 (55.86m).

Hunter's previous best discus throw this season was 170-6 (51.96m), which he recorded in late March at ACU's Wes Kittley Invitational, and his former personal best of 170-9 (52.04m) was registered at the 2016 Kittley Invite. Now Hunter stands atop the Southland with the league's best discus throw of the spring after surpassing Stephen F. Austin sophomore Trenton Bridges, who recorded his season best throw of 176-1 (53.68m) at the Carl Knight Invitational held earlier this month.

Hunter was one of eight Wildcats to record a PR Thursday, heading a list that also included sprinters Jessica King and Ryan Linton, multi-athlete Riley Ellis, pole vaulters Mackenzie West and Sophie Morrow, and throwers Reagan Mabery, Taylor Posey and McKennon Cecil.

King ran a wind-aided 12.08 (3.6w) to place fourth overall in the 100m dash and crack the league's performance list for the first time all season at No. 20. Linton's PR of 21.03 (2.9w) not only won him the 200m dash, but it also pushed him into third place within the league rankings behind the Northwestern State duo of Amir James (20.56) and Micah Larkins (20.98).

Elsewhere on the track, Lee-Andrew Bloomfield won the 400-meter hurdles in 53.58 seconds, and the women's 4x400m relay clocked a fourth-place and season best time of 3:51.02 that ranks seventh in the conference. Thursday's relay was composed of Chartia Hurt, Kimone Green, King and Irene Akwitti.

ACU's three additional victories were in the field events. Jaden Dement and Kenzie Walker Mascorro won the pole vault competitions with respective heights of 15-5 (4.70m) and 12-9.5 (3.90m), and Cecil was tops in the javelin as his PR of 178-0 (54.25m) moved him into the Southland's top 10.

West and Morrow finished behind Mascorro in third and fourth-place with their PR heights of 12-3.5 (3.75m) and 11-9.75 (3.60m). West's mark is the 10th best all-time at ACU and is the seventh best this season among all Southland competitors, while Morrow's leap ranks her 11th in the league.

ACU's throwing group accumulated a total of nine PRs Thursday, including Hunter's and Cecil's discus and javelin performances. Posey placed third in both the shot put and hammer and recorded lifetime bests in each event. Her shot put toss of 46-1.5 (14.06m) moved her into ninth place in ACU history and sixth in the Southland this season. Posey's hammer throw of 161-3 (49.16m) also ranks sixth in the league entering this weekend's meets.

Mabery continued her climb in the hammer throw and javelin competitions. She was the runner-up in the javelin with a launch of 133-3 (40.62m) that puts her fifth in the conference and sixth in the Wildcats' record books, and her hammer throw of 147-00 (44.82m) is good for 11th in the Southland.

Hunter recorded a second PR later in the shot put, placing second with a ninth-ranked Southland toss of 53-1 (16.18m), and Ellis – a freshman – made gains in the discus (83-09 / 25.53m) and high jump. Ellis reached a PR height of 6-6.75 (2.00m) in the high jump to rank seventh in the league. He also ran a wind-aided 10.92 in the 100m and a 16.79 in the 100m hurdles.

The Wildcats return to action next Wednesday, May 3 for their annual Oliver Jackson Twilight Meet at Elmer Gray Stadium.

ACU Results from the Wildcat Open
Women's 100m Dash
4.) Jessica King – 12.08 (3.6w) (PR)

Men's 100m Dash
3.) Ryan Linton – 10.51 (4.7w)
13.) Riley Ellis – 10.92 (6.4w)

Women's 200m Dash
2.) Chartia Hurt – 24.46 (6.5w)
3.) Jessica King – 24.67 (6.5w)

Men's 200m Dash
1.) Ryan Linton – 21.03 (2.9w) (PR and 3rd best in the SLC)

Men's 400m Dash
2.) Blaze Brownlow – 48.69
8.) Sterlen Paul – 50.29

Women's 800m Run
6.) Carnley Graham – 2:26.19

Men's 800m Run
6.) Reid Rivers – 1:59.04
7.) Drew Cummings – 2:02.31
15.) Justin Dees – 2:24.58

Men's 1500m Run
13.) Alex Jennings – 4:37.27

Women's 1500m Run
8.) Sierra Bennett – 5:22.79
12.) Lindsey White – 5:32.10

Women's 100m Hurdles
4.) Taylor Yantis Woods – 14.62 (5.2w)
6.) Irene Akwitti – 14.98 (4.1w)

Men's 100m Hurdles
14.) Riley Ellis – 16.79 (4.5w)

Men's 400m Hurdles
1.) Lee-Andrew Bloomfield – 53.58

Men's 3,000m Steeplechase
2.) Ryan Cleary – 9:42.29

Women's 4x400m Relay
4.) Hurt, Green, King, Akwitti – 3:51.02 (SB and seventh in the SLC)

Men's 4x400m Relay
3.) Brownlow, Bloomfield, Williams, Linton - 3:14.70

Women's High Jump
3.) Irene Akwitti – 1.60m / 5-03.00
12.) Taylor Woods Yantis – 1.52m / 4-11.75

Men's High Jump
3.) Riley Ellis – 2.00m / 6-06.75 (PR and tied for 7th in the SLC)

Women's Pole Vault
1.) Kenzie Walker Mascorro – 3.90m / 12-09.50
3.) Mackenzie West – 3.75m / 12-03.50 (PR, 7th in the SLC, and 10th all-time at ACU)
4.) Sophie Morrow – 3.60m / 11-09.75 (PR and 11th in the SLC)
9.) Hannah Newman – 3.15m / 10-04.00

Men's Pole Vault
1.) Jaden Dement – 4.70m / 15-05.00
3.) Kyle Mann – 4.55m / 14-11.00

Women's Long Jump
5.) Taylor Yantis Woods – 5.39m / 17-08.25 (4.0w)
6.) Irene Akwitti – 5.28m / 17-04.00 (6.1w)

Women's Shot Put
3.) Taylor Posey – 14.06m / 46-01.50 (PR, 6th in the SLC and 9th all-time at ACU)

Men's Shot Put
2.) Josh Hunter – 16.18m / 53-01.00 (PR and 9th in the SLC)
7.) Ryan Simmons – 14.48m / 47-06.25

Women's Discus
8.) Taylor Posey – 38.18m / 125-3

Men's Discus
3.) Josh Hunter – 54.47m / 178-08 (PR and 1st in the SLC)
8.) Ryan Simmons – 47.12m / 154-07
11.) McKennon Cecil – 44.53m / 146-01
18.) Riley Ellis – 25.53m / 83-09 (PR)

Men's Hammer Throw
3.) Ryan Simmons – 49.56m / 162-07

Women's Hammer Throw
3.) Taylor Posey – 49.16m / 161-03 (PR and 6th in the SLC)
6.) Reagan Mabery 44.82m / 147-00 (PR and 11th in the SLC)

Women's Javelin
2.) Reagan Mabery – 40.62m / 133-03 (PR, 5th in the SLC, and 6th all-time at ACU)
4.) Taylor Woods Yantis – 34.30m / 112-06
6.) Natalie Jackson – 33.86m / 111-01

Men's Javelin
1.) McKennon Cecil – 54.25m / 178-00 (PR and 10th best in the SLC)
6.) Ryan Simmons – 47.40m / 155-06