4x4 Relay, Cleary and Throwers shine in Austin

Wednesday, March 27

Austin, Texas

All Day

Abilene Christian

Texas Relays

Photo by: Tim Nelson

4x4 Relay, Cleary and Throwers shine in Austin

3/30/2019 7:09:00 PM | Track & Field

Results

ABILENE – Abilene Christian's track and field program wrapped three-consecutive days of competition Saturday at the 92nd annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays with its 4x400-meter relay of Jared Williams, Ryan Linton, Blaze Brownlow and Avery Williams running a season-best and Southland Conference ranked-No. 1 time of 3:07.76.

The quartet was fifth of eight teams following the first 800 meters but soon made its way into third place (passing Oklahoma State and UT Arlington) thanks to a 400m split of 46.95 from Brownlow. Avery Williams kept the Wildcats on the medal stand with his split of 46.25.

Friday this same team ran a second-place prelim time of 3:09.20.

Wayland Baptist (3:06.34) claimed top honors in the 1600m relay, and Colorado edged the Wildcats (3:07.46) at the finish line by a mere .3 seconds. The Buffaloes went from fifth to second over the final 400m thanks to an amazing 45.26 split from Duane McClurkin Jr.

Thursday night's highlight was the performance of senior and Prosper, Texas, native Ryan Cleary, who jumped to No. 6 in the NCAA rankings and ACU's all-time performer list (tops in the Southland) after clocking a personal record 8:56.40 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Cleary ran among the top three for the entire seven-lap race, and eventually passed UTA's Justin Domangue between laps three and four. Unfortunately neither would challenge Longhorn winner Alex Rogers, who topped the 13-man field by close to 10 seconds with a mark of 8:46.73.

ACU's throwing contingent experience a majority of its success in the discus. Sophomore Annina Brandenburg earned runner-up honors with a personal record of 54.58 meter (179 feet - 1 inch) to become the Wildcats' No. 2 all-time performer in this event, while senior Kai Schmidt climbed to No. 4 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the Southland with his fourth-place launch of 60.57m (198-8). Brandenburg also is tops in the conference and 14th in the NCAA; however, most national performance lists won't fully be updated until Sunday.

The Wildcats are scheduled to split between three separate locales next weekend (April 5-6) with the multi-athletes going to Stephen F. Austin. Another group will go to Arizona State for the Sun Devil Relays, while a majority of the team is expected to compete at North Texas.

ACU at Texas Relays
Women's 100m Hurdles
51. Megan Kirby – 14.36 (2.2w)
65. Irene Akwitti – 14.68 (nwi)

Men's 110m Hurdles
38. Harrison Manuel – 14.66 (3.3w) (PR)
47. Jamal January – 14.93 (2.5w)

Women's 400m Hurdles
45. Payton Kirk – 1:04.09
79. Jaycee Pannell – 1:09.64 (PR)

Men's 400m Hurdles
45. Jamal January – 55.07 (PR)
65. Samuel Garcia – 56.82

Women's 4x100m Relay
39. Mya Henson, Taylor Tolen, Karrington Lewis, Irene Akwitti – 48.62

Women's 4x400m Relay
33. Taylor Tolen, Mya Henson, Karrington Lewis, Megan Kirby – 3:55.13

Men's 4x400m Relay Prelims
2. Jared Williams, Ryan Linton, Blaze Brownlow, Avery Williams – 3:09.20q (SB, No. 1 in Southland)

Men's 4x400m Relay Finals
3. Jared Williams, Ryan Linton, Blaze Brownlow, Avery Williams – 3:07.76 (SB, No. 1 in Southland)

Men's 1600m Sprint Medley Relay
10. Avery Williams, Ryan Linton, Jared Williams, Denis Lagat – 3:30.47

Women's 1500m Run
10. Briahna Gerlach – 4:42.79 (PR)

Men's 3000m Steeplechase
2. Ryan Cleary – 8:56.40 (PR, No. 1 in the Southland, No. 6 in the NCAA, and ACU's No. 6 all-time performer)

Women's 5000m Run
10. Carnley Graham – 17:27.96

Women's Shot Put (B)
10. Kayla Melgar – 14.06m / 46-01.50

Men's Shot Put (A) - 4 p.m.
12. Kai Schmidt - 17.31m / 56-9.5

Men's Shot Put (B)
12. Morgan Knight – 16.44m / 53-11.25

Women's Discus (A) - 1:30 p.m.
14. Kayla Melgar – 42.30m / 138-9

Women's Discus (B)
2. Annina Brandenburg – 54.58m / 179-1 (PR and ACU's No. 2 all-time performer)
8. Lonnie Smith – 49.02m / 160-10

Men's Discus (A)
4. Kai Schmidt – 60.57m / 198-8 (PR, No. 4 in NCAA, No. 1 in Southland, and ACU's No. 4 all-time performer)
7. Morgan Knight – 55.56m / 182-3
8. Joshua Hunter – 55.54m / 182-3
14. Ryan Simmons – 53.12m / 174-3

Women's Hammer Throw
22. Kayla Melgar – 53.65m / 176-0