The Wildcats Compete at the Joe Gillespie Invitational

Friday, April 25

Stephenville, Texas

Abilene Christian

Joe Gillespie Invitational

Photo by: Sarah Eunyoung

The Wildcats Compete at the Joe Gillespie Invitational

4/27/2025 12:25:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Don Garrett

STEPHENVILLE - A small contingent of Wildcats, a majority of them field events athletes, were at Tarleton State for the Joe Gillespie Invitational this weekend. ACU claimed 4 first place finishes and had several performances that impacted the WAC performance list.

Freshman Charley Hamilton had not been able to compete for several weeks due to an illness, but she came back strong winning the women's 800 with a personal best (PB) time of 2:13.44, which puts her #12 on the WAC performance list.
Stone Smith won the men's discus with a throw of 158-5/48.29, that fell just short of his best all-time.
Freshman Mariana Van Dyk continued her strong inaugural season by winning the shot put with a PB throw of 43-7.5/13.30, which places her #5 on the WAC performance list. She also was runner up in the discus with a PB throw of 134-11/41.11, placing her #11 on the list.
Sutton Welch won the hammer throw, his 3 rd victory in the hammer during his outstanding senior season.
Luize Velmere finished 2 nd in the long jump with a PB jump of 19-4/5.26, moving her up to the #5 on the WAC performance list.
Redshirt freshman Sterling Glenn finished 4 th in the hammer throw with a PB throw of 159-1/48.50, moving her up to the #6 spot on the WAC list.
Freshman Madison Anderson placed 3 rd in the steeplechase with a time of 11:50.49, moving her up to #11 in the steeple on the WAC list.
Freshman Mark Barajas finished 2 nd in the 1500 dipping under the 4-minute barrier for the first time with a time of 3:59.07.
Kailey Roskop finished 2 nd in the hammer throw with a toss of 169-0, less than a foot from her PB. She remains ranked #4 in the WAC in both the discus and the hammer.
JP Trook ran 2 personal bests over the weekend – placing 3 rd in the 800 with a time of 1:55.42 and 4 th in the 1500 with a time of 4:00.41.

Next weekend, the Wildcats head to Lubbock for the Corky Crofoot Invitational on the campus of Texas Tech University. The Corky Crofoot will be the last meet before WAC Championship meet being held at UTA and the Wildcats will have a full contingent of competitors in Lubbock.