SAN MARCOS/AUSTIN - The Wildcat Track and field team split up and took small squads to compete in the Texas Relays in Austin and the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos. There were no outright victories for the 'Cats, but there were several good performances.
Texas Relays
- Mark Barajas got things underway on Thursday night at the Distance Carnival by placing 9 th in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a season best time of 9:23.44.
- Later in the distance carnival, Zachary Martin ran his first ever 10K on the track and placed 11 th with a time that will be very competitive at the conference meet –31:41.06.
- On Saturday, the women's 4x800 relay placed 7 th with a time of 9:03.91, in a field that saw Arkansas set a new collegiate record in the race. The Wildcat relay was composed of Jess Reyes and three freshmen - Gracee Whitaker, Jalyn Childers, and Emma Santoro.
Bobcat Invitational
- The ACU combined events duo competed well, with Canaan Fairley setting a new personal best (PB) in the men's decathlon with a score of 6,910 while finishing 3 rd in the event. During the competition, Canaan set new PB's in 4 individual events – the long jump, pole vault, 400 and 1500 – as he came ever closer to breaking through the 7,000 point barrier. On the women's side, Natalie Poe also set a new PB score of 4,584 points for 6 th place in the heptathlon. She did not have any PB's during the competition until the final event of the day, when she placed 1st in the heptathlon 800 with a time of 2:21.76 to move up several places.
- On Thursday night, redshirt freshman Kyle Fuller ran her 1st ever 10K and placed 2nd with a time of 38:34.29. as Hadley Phillips placed 6 th with a time of 40:12.12.
- That same evening, Peyton Bornstein placed 2 nd in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a season-best time of 11:23.98.
- Miguel Hall competed in the 110 hurdles at both the Texas Relays and the Bobcat Invitational – it was at the Bobcat that he ran a PB time of 14.08 getting 8th in a stellar field.
- The ACU throws squad competed at the Bobcat Invitational and they had many PB's during the weekend. Freshman Mariana Van Dyk threw PB's in the shot put (39-7/12.06) and the discus (131-6/40.08). Kailey Roskop continues her strong senior season as she throws a PB in the shot put of 38-9.75/11.83 – this is the first season that she has thrown the shot put outdoors. And, redshirt freshman Sterling Glenn picked up a PB placing 5 th in the discus, with a toss of 154-7/47.12.
The ACU T&F team will head to Lubbock next weekend for the Masked Rider Open on the Texas Tech University campus.
