NACOGDOCHES – Abilene Christian bore through the humidity and a flooding river to crown a conference champion on the first day of the Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships on Thursday.
Payton Kirk cleared 4.02 meters (13 feet, 2.25 inches) on her third try to claim the top spot and give the Wildcats nine points. That is her personal best, a top-five mark at ACU all-time and ranks in the top 45 in the West.
A river flood covered the throwing fields, forcing the postponement of the women's hammer and the delay of the decathlon and heptathlon.
"I'm proud of the way our team pushed through the adversity," said ACU Head Coach
Jerrod Cook. "Big highlight of the day was Payton winning the pole vault. Super excited for her. She competes so well at these big events like this."
Kevin Castruita finished fourth in the 10,000 meters at 31:48.79.
"That was a huge performance by Kevin," Cook said. "Very excited to see him do so well in the 10-K."
ACU also pushed through two entrants in the men's 200 meters with
Jack Marshall moving forward in fourth at 21.10 and
Jared Williams with the eighth-best time at 21.25.
Addison Franklin (21.75) was 29th,
Tyce Chaney (21.88) was 31st and
Matthew Mills (22.28) was 37th.
Jamal January just missed qualifying in the 400 hurdles at 54.74 for ninth place in the prelims.
Neal Helgerson finished 22nd in the 1500 at 3:57.44.
At the midway point of the decathlon,
Ethan Christian is sixth at 3538. He ran the 100 meters in 11.02 seconds for 797 points and the 400 meters in 50.23 seconds for 804 points. His long jump of 6.74 meters got him 753 points and he cleared 1.75 meters in the high jump for 585 points. His shot put of 10.91 meters was worth 540 points.
Through four events of the heptathlon,
Jessica Campbell is 10th at 2660 and
Natalie Poe is 11th at 2646. Campbell scored 727 points in 100 hurdles at 15.90, 610 in the high jump at 1.49 meters, 610 in the shot put at 11.23 meters and 713 in the 200 meters at 26.98. Poe ran the 100 hurdles in 16.32 seconds for 676 points and the 200 in 26.01 for 796 points. She also cleared 1.49 in the high jump for 610 points and scored 564 points in the shot put with a heave of 10.53 meters.
Savannah Walker was 10th overall in the 200 meters at 24.25, followed by
D'anna Smith in 25th at 24.85 and
Hannah Foster in 34th at 25.24.
Courtney Latham ran the women's 400 hurdles in 1:02.96 for 15th place.
Bella Evans was 20th in the 1500 meters at 4:43.44.
The women's hammer throw was postponed by local flooding and the rescheduled time has not yet been announced.
ACU's Thursday Results
Finals
Women's Pole Vault Final: 1.
Payton Kirk, 4.02 (No. 5 all-time at ACU)
Men's 10,000 Final: 4.
Kevin Castruita, 31:48.79
Prelims
Men's 200 prelim: 4.
Jack Marshall, 21.10 Q; 8.
Jared Williams, 21.25q; 29.
Addison Franklin, 21.75 31;
Tyce Chaney, 21.88 37;
Matthew Mills, 22.28
Men's 400 Hurdles prelim: 9.
Jamal January, 54.74
Women's 200 prelim: 10.
Savannah Walker, 24.25 25;
D'anna Smith, 24.85; 34.
Hannah Foster, 25.24
Women's 400 Hurdles prelim: 15.
Courtney Latham, 1:02.96
Women's 1500 prelim: 20.
Bella Evans, 4:43.44
Men's 1500 prelim: 22.
Neal Helgerson, 3:57.24
ACU's Remaining WAC Schedule
Friday (Subject to change)
9:30 a.m. – Dec 110 Hurdles (
Ethan Christian)
10 a.m. – Hep Long Jump (
Natalie Poe,
Jessica Campbell)
10:15 a.m. – Dec Discus (Christian)
11:45 p.m. – Dec Pole Vault (Christian)
Noon – Hep Javelin (Poe, Campbell)
12:15 p.m. – Men's Long Jump (
William Harris,
Donovan Ramirez)
1:30 p.m. Hep 800 (Poe, Campbell)
2:30 p.m. – Dec Javelin (Christian)
2:30 p.m. – Women's Shot Put FINAL (
Zoe Burleson)
3:15 p.m. – Women's Long Jump FINAL (
Ella Anttila,
Payton Kirk)
4 p.m. – Dec 1500 (Christian)
4 p.m. (unofficially): Women's Hammer Throw FINAL (
Kailey Roskop)
4:30 p.m. – Men's 110 Hurdles Prelim (
Jamal January,
Jeremy King)
4:45 p.m. – Women's 100 Hurdles Prelim (
Paige Boucher)
5 p.m. – Men's Shot Put FINAL (
Nathanial Collier,
Athan Huelskamp)
5 p.m. – Men's 800 Prelim (
Cooper Goggans,
JP Trook)
5:15 p.m. – Women's 800 Prelim (
Bella Evans,
Riley Pyeatt)
5:30 p.m. – Men's 400 Prelim (
Tyce Chaney,
Matthew Mills, Williams)
5:45 p.m. – Women's 400 Prelim (
Ja'Dasia Sims,
Gracyn Reed,
Ja'Kaylon Sabbath, Walker)
6 p.m. – Men's 100 Prelim (
Addison Franklin, Harris,
Jack Marshall)
6:15 p.m. – Women's 100 Prelim (
Hannah Foster,
D'anna Smith)
7:30 p.m. – Men's 3000 Steeplechase FINAL (
Gabe Embree,
Maxwel Kiplagat)
7:45 p.m. – Women's 3000 Steeplechase FINAL (
Peyton Bornstein)
Saturday (ALL FINALS)
10 a.m. – Women's Discus (Burleson, Roskop)
Noon – Women's High Jump (Sims)
Noon – Men's Triple Jump (
William Harris, Ramirez)
1 p.m. – Men's Discus (Collier, Huelskamp)
1 p.m. – Men's Pole Vault (
Jacob Thomas)
3 p.m. – Women's Triple Jump (Anttila)
3:30 p.m. – Men's 400 Relay (Marshall, Franklin, January,
William Harris)
3:40 p.m. – Women's 400 Relay (Kirk, Sabbath, Smith, Walker, Foster)
4 p.m. – Women's Javelin (
Kaitlyn Callaway, Campbell,
Skylar Harris)
4:10 p.m. – Men's 110 Hurdles (January, King)
4:20 p.m. – Women's 100 Hurdles (Boucher)
4:30 p.m. – Men's 400 (Chaney, Mills, Williams)
4:40 p.m. – Women's 400 (Sims, Reed, Sabbath, Walker)
4:50 p.m. – Men's 100 (Franklin,
William Harris, Marshall)
4:55 p.m. – Women's 100 (Foster, Smith)
5 p.m. – Men's 800 (Goggans, Trook)
5:10 p.m. – Women's 800 (Evans, Pyeatt)
5:40 p.m. – Men's 200 (Marshall, Williams)
6 p.m. – Men's 5000 (Helgerson, Castruita)
6:20 p.m. – Women's 5000 (Bornstein)
6:40 p.m. – Men's 1600 Relay (Mills, Chaney, Williams, Goggans, January, Franklin, Marshall)
6:45 p.m. – Women's 1600 Relay (Latham, Walker, Sims, Smith, Pyeatt, Foster, Reed)
