4x400m relay win gives ACU men third place at Southlands

Southland Conference Championships Central | Meet Results
 

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Two-straight days of track and field action at the Birmingham CrossPlex reached its conclusion Monday with the Abilene Christian men's 4x400-meter relay of Ryan Linton, Blaze Brownlow, Jared Williams, Avery Williams winning their race in 3 minutes, 13.23 seconds for the program's first indoor relay title since rejoining the Southland Conference in 2014.

The relay victory additionally propelled the men into third place with 77 points as they edged Lamar by three points for the team bronze medal. Sam Houston State earned the first-place crown with 104 points, and Southeastern Louisiana was second with 85 points. 

Sophomore Jared Williams made a move during the third leg of the relay to give ACU the lead, and junior Avery Williams held on for the entire final lap over runners from Sam Houston State and Southeastern. The Bearkats later had their relay disqualified for impeding, which moved the Lions (3:14.71) into second place. Central Arkansas also was DQ'd for a lane violation.

Even though these two disqualifications did not directly affect the Wildcats in the relay, Jared and Avery Williams and Linton all moved up one place in the 400-meter dash finals after ACU successfully protested a move made by Southeastern junior Donovan Storr in the second heat. Storr originally won the race in 47.68, but following a protest by the Wildcats coupled with an appeal by the Lions, a panel of officials reviewed the video to find Storr impeded Avery Williams near the start of their second lap. 

ACU earned 13 points in finishing third, fourth and seventh in the 400m. The Wildcats earlier received three points from freshman Jamal January in the 60-meter hurdles, where he produced a time of 8.33 seconds, and later in the day senior Ryan Cleary claimed the silver medal in the mile (4:09.26) and fifth-place points in the 3,000-meter run (8:22.30). Cleary was joined in the mile's points column by newcomer Denis Lagat, who posted a fifth-place time of 4:17.95. 

The Wildcats' highest scoring event of Monday was the shot put, where senior Kai Schmidt won the Wildcats' first individual indoor conference title since 2015. Schmidt finished the competition with a top distance of 17.97 meters (58 feet, 11.50 inches), while the fourth and sixth-place points were claimed by classmates Joshua Hunter and Morgan Knight. Hunter recorded a PR of 17.03 meters (55-10.50) and Knight's top throw measured 16.57 meters (54-05.50).

ACU's women's team placed fifth of 12 Southland Conference schools with 65 points. Stephen F. Austin ruled the field with 141 points followed by runner-up Northwestern State (85 points), Incarnate Word (81 points) and McNeese (72).

Like Sunday, a bulk of the women's points came courtesy of their throwers. Yesterday the Wildcats totaled 19 points in the weight throw and today they yielded 15 points in the shot put. Overall, ACU's men's and women's throwers were responsible for 69 of 142 points (49 percent).

Senior Kayla Melgar led her side with a second-place effort and PR of 15.37m (50-05.25) that pushed her into second place on the school's all-time performer list behind Marlene Lewis, whose varsity record of 15.46m (50-09.00) has stood since December 5, 1987.

Senior Taylor Posey was fifth in the shot put with her PR and fifth-ranked varsity performance of 14.71m (48-03.25), and sophomore Annina Brandenburg was sixth with a push of 14.65m (48-00.75).

ACU earned its first silver medal of the day in the mile, where sophomore Briahna Gerlach improved by more than four seconds on her prelim time (5:03.94) in finishing with a mark of 4:59.65. Gerlach later ran a 14th-place time in the 3K (10:20.03), where senior Carnley Graham pulled in three points with her sixth-place time of 10:08.33.

Elsewhere on the track, sophomore Megan Kirby – who Sunday placed fourth in the pentathlon – today reached the medal stand with a third-place mark of 8.75 seconds in the 60m hurdles, and in the high jump, freshman Zoe Spinn tied her personal record with her fourth-place leap of 1.72m (5-07.75).

No Wildcats qualified for the NCAA indoor championships so their next appearance will be the weekend of March 14 to 16 for the annual Wes Kittley Invitational hosted by ACU's Elmer Gray Stadium. This year's opposition includes men's and women's teams from Texas Tech, SMU, North Texas and Sam Houston State.
 

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Women - Final Team Rankings
1.) Stephen F. Austin - 141        
2.) Northwestern St. - 85
3.) Incarnate Word - 81        
4.) McNeese State - 72
5.) Abilene Christian - 65       
6.) Lamar - 48
T7.) Sam Houston St. - 43        
T7) Central Arkansas - 43
9.) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - 38       
10.) Southeastern Louisiana - 24
11.) Houston Baptist - 16      
12.) New Orleans - 7
 

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Women's 60m Dash Prelims
13.) Karrington Lewis - 7.72 (PR and ACU's No. 7 all-time performer)
17.) Taylor Tolen - 7.75

Women's 200m Dash Prelims
13.) Karrington Lewis - 25.04

Women's 400m Dash Prelims
15.) Taylor Tolen - 57.44
24.) Mya Henson - 59.28 (PR)

Women's Mile Prelims
2q.) Briahna Gerlach - 5:03.94 (PR)

Women's Mile Finals (8)
2.) Briahna Gerlach -  4:59.65 (PR) – 8 pts.

Women's 3,000-meter run (3)
6.) Carnley Graham - 10:08.33 – 3 pts.
14.) Briahna Gerlach - 10:20.03
17.) Sarah Wagler - 10:28.17 (PR)

Women's 5,000-meter run (2)
7.) Carnley Graham - 17:48.47 – 2 pts.

Women's 60m Hurdles Prelims
6q.) Irene Akwitti - 8.82 (PR and ACU's No. 3 all-time performer)
7q.) Megan Kirby - 8.87

Women's 60m Hurdles Finals (8)
3.) Megan Kirby - 8.75 – 6 pts.
7.) Irene Akwitti - 8.98 – 2 pts.

Women's 4x400m Relay
10.) Taylor Tolen, Karrington Lewis, Mya Henson, Megan Kirby - 3:53.77

Women's Distance Medley Relay
10.) Hannah Marut, Jamie Kennedy, Soren Underwood, Sarah Wagler - 13:10.31

Women's Pole Vault
–.) Payton Kirk - NH

Women's High Jump (5)
4.) Zoe Spinn - 1.72m (5-07.75) – 5 pts. (T-PR)

Women's Long Jump
17.) Megan Kirby - 5.36m (17-07.00)
19.) Payton Kirk - 5.34m (17-06.25)

Women's Shot Put (15)
2.) Kayla Melgar - 15.37m (50-05.25) | (PR and ACU's No. 2 all-time performer) – 8 pts.
5.) Taylor Posey - 14.71m (48-03.25) | (PR and ACU's No. 5 all-time performer) – 4 pts.
6.) Annina Brandenburg - 14.65m (48-00.75) – 3 pts.
9.) Calyha Brown - 14.17m (46-06.00) | (PR)

Women's Weight Throw (19)
2.) Lonnie Smith - 19.05m (62-06.00) – 8 pts.
3.) Kayla Melgar - 18.97m (62-03.00) | (PR and ACU's No. 2 all-time performer) – 6 pts.
4.) Taylor Posey - 18.86m (61-10.50) – 5 pts.

Pentathlon (5)
4.) Megan Kirby - 3,605 pts. (PR and ACU's No. 2 all-time performer) – 5 pts.

Pentathlon 60m Hurdles
2.) Megan Kirby - 8.80  / 952 pts.

Pentathlon High Jump
5.) Megan Kirby - 1.58m (5-02.25) / 712 pts.

Pentathlon Shot Put
8.) Megan Kirby - 9.75m (32-00.00) / 513 pts.

Pentathlon Long Jump
3.) Megan Kirby - 5.52m (18-01.50) / 706 pts.

Pentathlon 800m Run
6.) Megan Kirby - 2:27.66 / 722 pts. (PR)
 

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Men - Final Team Rankings
1.) Sam Houston St. - 104      
2.) Southeastern Louisiana - 85            
3.) Abilene Christian - 77        
4.) Lamar - 74            
5.) Northwestern St. - 63        
6.) Stephen F. Austin - 57.50         
7.) Incarnate Word - 46     
8.) Texas A&M-CC - 42.50         
9.) Central Arkansas - 39       
10.) McNeese State - 35            
11.) Houston Baptist - 32       
12.) New Orleans - 6       
 

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Men's 60m Dash Prelims
19.) Le'Gari Daniels - 6.97

Men's 200m Dash Prelims
24.) Le'Gari Daniels - 22.38
31.) Harrison Manuel - 22.77

Men's 400m Dash Prelims
3q.) Jared Williams - 48.12
5q.) Avery Williams - 48.30
6q.) Ryan Linton - 48.42
10.) Blaze Brownlow - 48.82

Men's 400m Dash Finals (13)
3.) Jared Williams  - 48.01 – 6 pts.
4.) Avery Williams - 48.09 – 5 pts.     
7.) Ryan Linton - 48.89 – 2 pts.

Men's 60m Hurdles Prelims
8q.) Jamal January - 8.25
15.) Harrison Manuel - 8.50

Men's 60m Hurdles Finals (3)
6.) Jamal January - 8.33 – 3 pts.

Men's Mile Prelims
1q.) Ryan Cleary - 4:14.68
9q.) Denis Lagat - 4:17.35 (PR)

Men's Mile Finals (12)
2.) Ryan Cleary - 4:09.26 (PR) – 8 pts.
5.) Denis Lagat - 4:17.95 – 4 pts.

Men's 3,000-meter run (4)
5.) Ryan Cleary - 8:22.30 – 4 pts. 

Men's 5,000-meter run
22.) Kevin Kipkosgei - 15:29.49

Men's 4x400m Relay (10)
1.) Ryan Linton, Blaze Brownlow, Jared Williams, Avery Williams - 3:13.23  – 10 pts.                  

Men's Distance Medley Relay
9.) Kevin Kipkosgei, Samuel Garcia, Seth Crockett, Denis Laga - 10:24.41

Men's High Jump
9.) Riley Ellis - 1.95m (6-04.75)
14.) Cole Palka - 1.90m (6-02.75) (PR)

Men's Pole Vault
10.) Ross Dean - 4.75m (15-07.00) (PR)
11.) Kyle Mann - 4.75m (15-07.00)
15.) Justin Haines - 4.60m (15-01.00)
–.) Grant Baker - NH

Men's Shot Put (18)
1.) Kai Schmidt - 17.97m (58-11.50) – 10 pts.
4.) Joshua Hunter - 17.03m (55-10.50) – 5 pts. (PR)
6.) Morgan Knight - 16.57m (54-04.50) – 3 pts.
12.) Ryan Simmons – 15.06m (49-05.00)

Men's Weight Throw (17)
2.) Morgan Knight - 19.35m (63-06.00) | (PR and ACU's No. 2 all-time performer) – 8 pts.
5.) Joshua Hunter - 17.68m (58-00.25) | (PR and ACU's No. 9 all-time performer) – 4 pts.
6.) Thomas Wilson - 17.34m (56-10.75) | (PR and ACU's No. 10 all-time performer) – 3 pts.
7.) McKennon Cecil - 16.75m (54-11.50) – 2 pts.
9.) Kai Schmidt - 16.02m (52-06.75)

Heptathlon Final
11.) Riley Ellis - 4,733 pts.
13.) Cole Palka - 4,624 pts. (PR)
14.) Ross Dean - 4,589 pts. (PR)

Heptathlon Day 1
7.) Riley Ellis - 2,787 pts.
11.) Cole Palka - 2,681 pts.
18.) Ross Dean - 2,448 pts.

Heptathlon 60m Dash
5.) Riley Ellis - 7.23 / 802 pts.
10.) Ross Dean - 7.33 / 769 pts. (PR)
11.) Cole Palka - 7.37 / 755 pts. (PR)

Heptathlon Long Jump
7.) Riley Ellis - 6.71m (22-00.25) / 746 pts. (PR)
11.) Cole Palka - 6.66m (21-10.25) / 734 pts. (PR)
19.) Ross Dean - 6.13m (20-01.50) / 615 pts.(PR)

Heptathlon Shot Put
13.) Riley Ellis - 10.95m (35-11.25) / 543 pts.
17.) Ross Dean - 10.02m (32-10.50) / 487 pts.
19.) Cole Palka - 9.73m (31-11.25) / 469 pts.

Heptathlon High Jump
5.) Cole Palka - 1.91m (6-03.25) / 723 pts. (PR)
7.) Riley Ellis - 1.88m (6-02.00) / 696 pts.
17.) Ross Dean - 1.74m (5-08.50) / 577 pts. (PR)

—— Day 2 Heptathlon ——

Heptahlon 60m Hurdles
9.) Cole Palka - 8.92 / 764 pts. (PR)
15.) Riley Ellis - 9.04 / 737 pts.
19.) Ross Dean - 9.64 / 611 pts.

Heptathlon Pole Vault
4.) Ross Dean - 4.70m (15-05.00) / 819 pts. (T-PR)
16.) Riley Ellis - 3.80m (12-05.50) / 562 pts. (PR)
20.) Cole Palka - 3.40m (11-01.75) / 457 pts. (PR)

Heptathlon 1000m Run
5.) Cole Palka - 2:54.21 / 722 pts. (PR)
6.) Ross Dean - 2:55.29 / 711 pts. (PR)
18.) Riley Ellis - 3:01.81 / 647 pts.