ABILENE, Texas – The Trinity men's and women's track & field teams opened up the first of two days at the Wes Kittley Invitational by breaking several personal records.
The meet is hosted by Abilene Christian University on Friday and Saturday, featuring mostly non-Division III schools. Friday's events consisted of the discus and javelin throws for the field events, as well as the 1500-meter run, the 3000-meter steeplechase, the 5000-meter run, and the 10,000-meter run – though Trinity did not have any entries in the 10K race.
Ayoob Ismael (Concord, N.H. / Concord) had new personal records in both the discus and javelin, highlighted by an eighth-place finish in the javelin with a mark of 47.90 meters.
Heath Schake (Wimberley, Texas / Wimberley) was 15th in the discus event with a 39.01-meter throw that sets his new personal record, while Ismael was 18th with a distance of 34.24 meters.
Pierce Jackson (Addison, Texas / Dallas Jesuit) was 13th in the javelin after reaching 46.39 meters, while
Kris Duggan (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) broke his personal-best throw with a mark of 37.69 meters tonight.
Rachel Bell (Manvel, Texas / Lutheran South Academy) was 12th with a throw of 36.28 meters in the discus, while
Kate Ballengee (Albuquerque, N.M. / Bosque School) and
Maria Bodden (San Antonio, Texas / Incarnate Word HS) were both top-20 finishers. Bodden and Bell were also in the top 20 in the javelin, with
Demi Durham (Parker, Ariz. / Parker) joining her teammates in the top 20 in the event.
The Tigers had five runners finish in the top 10 of the 1500 race – three men and two women.
Josette Gurule (Santa Fe, N.M. / Academy for Technology and the Classics) paced the women with her time of 4:56.29 that earned her a fourth-place finish.
Annette Smith (Houston, Texas / Ridge Point) was eighth in a time of 5:00.45 in her first collegiate 1500.
Thomas Melina-Raub (Austin, Texas / McCallum),
Walt Petersen (Winston-Salem, N.C. / Reynolds), and
Sebastian Langer (Houston, Texas / Clear Lake) all finished sixth through eighth to lead Trinity's men. Melina-Raub led the way with a personal-record time of 4:05.29, while Petersen was seventh with a time of 4:05.63 in his first 1500 race. Langer was right there with his teammates in 4:05.78.
Gianna Keena (Lakeway, Texas / Lake Travis) and
Madison Habeck (Lake Jackson, Texas / Clute Brazoswood) both finished in the top 15 for the Tiger women, finishing in 5:04.02 and 5:06.33, respectively.
Joseph Herlin (Ft. Worth, Texas / Boswell) was 14th in the men's race with a time of 4:10.54.
The men's and women's steeplechase produced Trinity's best finishes for the first day of action. Both
Ellie Catron (Spring, Texas / The Woodlands Christian) and
Diego Flores (San Antonio, Texas / Great Hearts Monte Vista North) finished third and both Tigers nearly broke their own personal records. Catron was less than 10 seconds from her career-best time that already has her ranked fourth in school history, clocking in at 11:17.25 tonight. Flores was less than four seconds from his PR time that is just over eight seconds from the Trinity record, crossing the finish line in 9:23.87 on Friday.
All three women's runners in the 5K finished in the top 17 on Friday, while the men had four runners in the top 20.
Sydney Tucker (McKinney, Texas / Boyd) led the women with a time of 19:34.95 in her first 5K race in track & field, finishing 12th.
Ellie Herrick (Corpus Christi, Texas / Tuloso Midway) was 15th in 19:45.67, while
Grace Etzel (Friendswood, Texas / Friendswood) came in at 17th with a time of 20:23.96. Trinity's men were led by
Nathaniel Trevino (San Antonio, Texas / Central Catholic) and his time of 16:05.60 that placed him 13th.
Melvin Cruz (Houston, Texas / Awty International School) was 17th in 16:20.42, while
Joseph Gurule (Santa Fe, N.M. / Academy for Technology and the Classics) was 18th with a personal-record time of 16:20.53.
Ian Strang (Sarasota, Fla. / Out-of-Door Academy) turned in a time of 16:23.64 for his first 5K race in track & field that resulted in a 20th-place finish.
Up Next
The Tiger men and women will continue the meet tomorrow with plenty of field events and running events on the schedule. The field events begin at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, with the running events starting at 2:00 p.m.
