Kingsville, Texas – The Tiger men's and women's track team chalked up another successful weekend, competing at the Cactus Cup, hosted by Texas A&M University-Kingsville on Friday and Saturday.

Trinity had three event winners in Saturday's competition, including a pair of Tiger women who tied for the top spot.

Makenna Bentley (Orange, Calif. / Orange Lutheran) and Merriam Scafide (Houston, Texas / Incarnate Word Academy) tied with two others to win the women's high jump. The Tiger duo both cleared 1.53 meters in the event.

On the men's side, Jacob Winchester (Houston, Texas / Katy Taylor) won the men's javelin with his throw of 49.62 meters, while Robert Slaybaugh (Missouri City, Texas / Elkins) also won the men's shot put with a season-long throw of 13.50 meters.

Friday Highlights

Emma Pool (Columbus, Ohio / Upper Arlington) finished second in the women's pole vault on Friday, topping 3.00 meters for the fourth time this season. Tanner Lacy (Oak Ridge North, Texas / Oak Ridge) finished third in the men's event by reaching 4.46 meters – the second-best mark in his career. Daniel D'Rovencourt (Fulshear, Texas / Tompkins) and Raini Huynh (Andover, Mass. / Andover) both tied for fourth with a season-best 4.01 meters in the pole vault.

Track Highlights

Cassandra Williams (Allen, Texas / Allen) finished second in the 400-meter dash and third in the 200-meter dash, setting new personal records in both events. Her time of 27.39 seconds in the 200 is the third-fastest at Trinity this season, while the 1:02.57 she ran in the 400 is the best by a Tiger runner in 2021.

Not only did Jalen Leonce (Allen, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) crack the top 10 in school history in the 110-meter hurdles, but his time of 15.63 seconds is the fastest this season for the Trinity men's team. Patrick Green (Shiner, Texas / St. Paul) also set a new PR in the 110 hurdles, while Noah Fulcomer (Rockford, Ill. / Rockford Christian) hit the line in a season-best 17.86 seconds. Benjamin Witt (Midland, Texas / Trinity) was just 0.07 seconds from his season best as well.

Sticking with the hurdles, Rylie Edwards (Frisco, Texas / Frisco) was just 0.04 seconds from her fastest time of the season in the 400-meter hurdles.

Ethan Gilmore (Houston, Texas / Lamar) and Ify Ikenga (Cypress, Texas / Cypress Ranch) both set new personal records in the 200-meter dash. Gilmore finished in 22.75 seconds, followed closely by Ikenga's time of 23.40 seconds. Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) was just 0.10 seconds from joining them with a PR in the 100-meter dash.

Grant Bishop (Seguin, Texas / Navarro) set a new PR in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.98 seconds.

Field Highlights

Three Tiger women's throwers set new personal records in three different events on Saturday. Kierra Francois (Rosharon, Texas / Arlington) reached 10.15 meters in the shot put for a new personal-best, while Emma Ross (Kansas City, Kan. / Shawnee Mission South) had hers with a throw of 30.43 meters in the discus. Maggie Nava (San Antonio, Texas / Holy Cross) led the Tigers with a throw of 27.04 meters in the javelin.

Stephen Ford (Abilene, Texas / Abilene) won his flight in the discus throw with a mark of 39.15 meters and also threw the shot put a season-long 10.40 meters.

Cooper Tyler (Austin, Texas / Anderson) was second among five Tiger men competing in the javelin with a career-best mark of 45.50 meters. Heath Schake (Wimberley, Texas / Wimberley) also topped his personal best with a throw of 37.14 meters in the discus.

Elijah Wade (Waco, Texas / Vanguard) jumped 6.34 meters in the long jump, missing his personal best by just 0.08 meters.

Up Next

The Tigers will compete at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships next weekend in Seguin, Texas. Since the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19, Trinity's women are the defending conference champions after having won the event in 2019. The Tiger men have finished second for three straight years and will look to win their first SCAC title since 2016.