Wildcats dominate home meet as distance squads impress in Arlington

ABILENE, Texas – The Abilene Christian track and field teams turned in yet another strong day on Thursday, with the majority of the team impressing at the Oliver Jackson Twilight and a small group shining in Arlington. With the Western Athletic Conference Championships looming, the Wildcats continue to look across the board like one of the top teams in the league.
 
INSIDE THE MEETS: 

• Event: Oliver Jackson Twilight
• Host: Abilene Christian University
• Site: Elmer Gray Stadium
• Location: Abilene, Texas
• Results

 

• Event: UTA Under Armour Invitational
• Host: UT Arlington
• Site: Maverick Stadium
• Location: Arlington, Texas
• Results

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Oliver Jackson Twilight 

• The Wildcats dominated in the women's 100, with Taylor Tolen's season-best and first-place time of 11.42 helping the Purple and White pick up eight of the top ten individual spots. She was followed by Savannah Walker (11.67, 2nd), Mya Henson (11.76, 5th), Megan Kirby (11.78, 6th), D'Anna Smith (11.79, 7th), Karrington Lewis (11.88, 8th), Ja'Kaylon Sabbath (11.89, 9th) and Amy Ambelang (11.90, 10th). 
• Tolen came away with a victory in the 200, as well, doing so with a time of 23.70 to lead the way in another deep ACU event. Behind her in the event was Walker (24.13, 2nd), Smith (24.61, 5th), Sabbath (24.63, 6th), Ambelang (24.70, 7th), Henson (24.71, 8th) and Jessica Campbell (26.12, 10th). 
• Ja'Dasia Sims turned in a PR in the 400, winning the event with a time of 55.42 to jump up to fifth on the WAC leaderboard. 
• Breonna McCarthy-Reese finished the 800 in 2:23.32, good enough for a third-place finish for the Wildcats. 
• Briahna Gerlach and Irene Rono gave the Purple and White a strong 1-2 finish in the 1500, with Gerlach (4:31.59) winning the event and Rono (4:35.75) finishing nearly full 13 seconds ahead of third place. Prudence Kiyeng ended up in fourth with a time of 4:49.55, while Georgina Balderas (5:40.16) came in ninth place. 
• Megan Kirby (13.42) cruised to a win in the 100 hurdles, while teammates Paige Boucher (14.07) and Payton Kirk (14.70) came in fourth and eighth respectively. 
• Julia Perry turned in a PR of 1:03.00 in the 400 hurdles to come in second place, while Courtney Latham was on her heels at 1:04.91 and came in fourth. 
• Tessa Holderman ran away with the steeplechase, picking up the win with a time of 11:25.43, more than 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. 
• The women's 4x100 relay team took first place with a mark of 45.77 to narrowly edge out SFA. 
• Zoe Spinn cleared 1.66m (5' 5 ¼") in the high jump to claim third place individually, while Kyla Peeples (1.61m/5' 3 ¼) tied with Campbell for fifth. 
• Kirk finished fifth in the women's pole vault with a clearance of 3.82m/12' 6 ¼" to set a new PR. Teammate Kaydi Pursley landed in seventh place after her second attempt of the day saw her clear 3.52m/11' 6 ½". 
• Kirby (6.29m/20' 7 ¾"), Kirk (6.19m/20' 3 ¾"), and Sims (5.89m/19' 4") gave the Wildcats the top three individuals in the women's long jump, while Boucher (5.73m/18' 9 ¾") and Campbell (5.03m/16' 6") also finished inside the top ten. 
• In the women's triple jump, Ella Anttila took over the WAC lead with a season-best effort of 12.96m/42' 6 ¼" to win the event on Thursday, a mark that may be good enough to get her into Regionals as an automatic qualifier. Luize Velmere came in third at 12.12m/39' 9 ¼" to slide into fifth on the league leaderboard. 
• Annina Brandenburg continues to make history on a seemingly weekly basis for ACU, once again the school record in the shot put with a remarkable first-place distance of 16.91m/55' 5 ¾". Zoe Burleson finished the event in third place with a heave of 14.38m/47' 2 ¼". 
• Brandenburg also unsurprisingly took first in the discus, as her final effort of the day landed 57.35m/188' 2" away from the circle. Burleson (50.60m/166', third place) and Kailey Roskop (46.81m/153' 7") picked up third and fourth in the same event respectively. 
• Taylor McCoy (49.36m/161' 11") and Roskop (46.60m/152' 11") gave ACU fifth and sixth place in the women's hammer to round out another strong day in the field events. 
• Jamal January was in typical form on Thursday, winning the 100 with a time of 10.33, while Addison Frankling (10.42, 5th) joined him inside the top five. 
• January (13.75) added a win in the 110 hurdles as part of a 1-2-3 finish, with J.J Ply (13.86) taking second and Jeremy King (14.20) earning third. 
• Jimmie Horton found himself in seventh place in the 400 hurdles with a time of 56.14. 
• Jack Marshall (21.06) was ACU's top finisher in the 200, while Franklin (21.19) came in fifth and Ryan Bornemeier (21.31) claimed seventh. 
• Garrison Shindler edged out a victory in the 800, doing so with a time of 1:54.59.
• Maxwel Kiplagat won the men's 1500 with a time of 4:02.23, while Denis Lagat (4:07.94) and Colton Gates (4:10.35) rounded out the top five. 
• Gabe Embree (9:40.36), Cooper Goggans (9:53.42) and Luke Hernandez (10:43.14) were the top three runners in the steeplechase. 
• Cole Newman and Grant Baker once again tied each other in the pole vault after clearing 4.93m/16' 2" to earn a share of second place. 
• Will Harris turned in a strong performance in the long jump, moving from 14th to 5th on the WAC leaderboard with a leadoff effort of 7.54m (24' 9") to win the event. January came in third at 7.45m/24' 5 ½", while Bornemeier (7.4m/24' 3 ½") followed in fourth place. 
• Tyler Richardson (16.31m/53' 6 ¼") earned first place in the men's shot put before coming in third in the hammer with a distance of 55.59m/182' 4". Athan Huelskamp picked up third in the shot put (15.85m/52') and finished sixth in the discus (51.74m/169' 9"). 
• Ply tossed a javelin 56.37m/184' 11" to claim third in the event.   

 
UTA Under Armour Invitational 

• Sarah Wagler won the women's 5K in stellar fashion, turning in a time of 17:44.48 to beat second place more than 23 seconds. Grace White (18:21.74) and Ariana Trevino (18:47.08) came in fourth and seventh respectively in the same event. 
• On the men's side, Levi Chambers cruised to an event win with a time of 14:55.62, while Neal Helgerson (16:25.49), O'Brien Verdin (15:37.81) and Kevin Kipkosgei (15:49.76) helped give ACU four of the top nine runners. 

 
UP NEXT: 

• The Wildcats are set to take part in the Corky/Crofoot Shootout this weekend, with the event being hosted by Texas Tech University. The Shootout is the final scheduled event for ACU before heading to Seattle for the WAC Championships on May 12.