Abilene, Texas – The Tiger men's and women's track & field teams completed their part in the Wes Kittley Invitational on Saturday, which was hosted by Abilene Christian University.

Despite competing against several schools outside of Division III, Trinity had several standout performances and plenty of new personal records were set on the second day of action for the Tiger teams.

Highlights

The 4x400-meter relay team of Seve Rodriguez (Waimea, Hawaii / La Canada), Sean Majors (Fredericksburg, Texas / Fredericksburg), Grant Bishop (Seguin, Texas / Navarro), and Ethan Gilmore (Houston, Texas / Lamar) posted a season-best time of 3:20.51, which puts the foursome into third on Trinity's all-time performance list. Rodriguez, Majors, Bishop, and Josue Parra (Niles, Ill. / Maine East) entered the record book in fifth after their performance at the season-opening Trinity Invitational on March 6.

Parra and Bishop also posted season-best times of 51.85 and 52.28, respectively, in the 400-meter dash. Majors earned a fifth-place finish in the long jump with a mark of 7.18 meters – a distance that would have been his career-best except for his record-setting 7.35-meter jump two weeks ago at the TU Invite.

Avery Puig (Laredo, Texas / Alexander) finished in the top 15 in three different events on Saturday, including a new personal record in the 100-meter dash. Puig moved into fifth in school history with a time of 12.57 in the sprint. She also set a new personal best with her time of 15.52 in the 100-meter hurdles and was also 13th in the 400-meter hurdles.

Selina Noe (San Antonio, Texas / Reagan) narrowly missed a pair of personal records of her own in the 100-meter dash and the long jump. She was just 0.19 seconds from her own record with a season-best time of 13.47 seconds in the 100 meters, then finished 13th in the long jump with a mark of 5.20 meters that was just 0.15 meters from a new personal best.

Rylie Edwards (Frisco, Texas / Frisco) joined Noe in setting a new personal record with a time of 16.50 seconds in the 100 hurdles, while also finishing 11th in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:08.88.

Merriam Scafide (Houston, Texas / Incarnate Word Academy) tied her personal best from two weeks ago by clearing 1.55 meters in the high jump on Saturday. That mark ties her for ninth on Trinity's all-time list and also earned her a ninth-place finish at the Wes Kittley Invitational. Makenna Bentley (Orange, Calif. / Orange Lutheran) was 10th in today's event with the same mark of 1.55 meters that is also her season-best.

Elaine Kaster (Lewisville, Texas / Founders Classical) led a group of four Tiger runners in the top six in the 1500-meter run, finishing third with a time of 5:06.95 on Saturday. Anna King (San Antonio, Texas / Reagan) was just behind her in fourth, followed by Maia Dykstra (Clarkston, Wash. / Asotin) in fifth, and Ardi Saunders (Coppell, Texas / New Tech) in sixth.

Paige Tangney (Wilmette, Ill. / New Trier) and three teammates had similar success in the 800-meter run, swiping four of the top eight spots. Tangney was fourth in a time of 2:23.06, followed by Olive Pertuit (League City, Texas / Clear Falls) in fifth, Madison Habeck (Lake Jackson, Texas / Clute Brazoswood) in sixth, and Cassandra Williams (Allen, Texas / Allen) in eighth.

Ben Whittemore (Georgetown, Texas / Georgetown) raced to a sixth-place finish in the 1500-meter run with a personal record time of 4:10.32, and also set a new personal-best with a 12th-place finish in the 5,000-meter event.

Tanner Lacy (Oak Ridge North, Texas / Oak Ridge) finished eighth in the pole vault after clearing 4.45 meters in today's competition. That mark is his best so far this season and is just 0.10 meters from tying his personal record.

Robert Slaybaugh (Missouri City, Elkins) and Heath Schake (Wimberley, Texas / Wimberley) both finished in the top 25 of the discus throw on Saturday, setting new season-best marks in the process.

Patrick Green (Shiner, Texas / St. Paul) posted his collegiate-best times in both the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Jalen Leonce (Allen, Texas / Jesuit) also established a new personal time-to-beat collegiately in the 400 hurdles.

David Buss (Frisco, Texas / Liberty) finished 14th in the javelin throw with a season-best mark of 45.68 meters.

Rushil Desai (Houston, Texas / St. Pius X) and Melvin Cruz (Houston, Texas / Awty International School) both had collegiate-bests in the 800 meters, while Kierra Francois (Rosharon, Texas / Arlington) and Maggie Nava (San Antonio, Texas / Holy Cross) both posted season-highs in the discus. Nava also set a new season-high in the javelin.

Coach Speak

"I am very proud of the team today," revealed Head Coach Marcus Whitehead. "Everyone got out and competed with some talented D-I and D-II teams."

Up Next

Trinity has a quick turnaround after this meet and will be back in action next week at the Texas State Bobcat Invitational, Thursday, March 25 through Saturday, March 27.