SAN ANTONIO – Trinity's men's and women's track & field teams finished off a successful weekend at the Wes Kittley Invitational on Saturday.
The Tigers had several personal records and top-10 performances, despite competing alongside non-Division III schools. There were 15 men's performances in the top 10, while the women also reached double digits with 11.
Trinity had most of its success in the field events, beginning with the hammer throw.
Kate Ballengee (Albuquerque, N.M. / Bosque School) finished ninth with a personal record throw of 39.93 meters, which was ninth in today's meet and also moves her up to third in school history.
Rachel Bell (Manvel, Texas / Lutheran South Academy) also hit a new PR with her throw of 37.70 meters that put her in 10th place.
Heath Schake (Wimberley, Texas / Wimberley) also set a new PR on the men's side, finishing eighth with a throw of 38.78 meters that moves him up one spot to seventh on Trinity's all-time list.
Aaron Chang (Fullerton, Calif. / Valley Christian) also cracked the top 10 in Trinity history for the hammer, reaching 36.76 meters to finish 10th on Saturday. Chang also finished ninth in the shot put with a throw of 13.08 meters.
The top Tiger finishers of the day came in the men's and women's triple jump.
Bocar Diagana (Edina, Minn. / Edina) was the runner-up on the men's side with a jump of 12.89 meters, while
Joy Areola (Tomball, Texas / Rosehill Christian School) was third with her mark of 11.49 meters for the women. Areola also finished seventh in the long jump, reaching 5.02 meters. She was joined by
Hallie Martin (Little Rock, Ark. / Little Rock Christian) and
Emilie Mireles (Brownsville, Texas / Hanna Early College) in the top 10 in the event. Mireles was ninth with a jump of 4.78 meters, while Martin was 10th after hitting 4.59 meters.
Tias McClarty (Norman, Okla. / Norman) was fifth in the men's long jump with a mark of 6.76 meters.
Martin added another top-10 finish after clearing 1.35 meters in the high jump to finish eighth.
Kris Duggan (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) and
Trent Svacina (Alamo Heights, Texas / Alamo Heights) both cleared 1.80 meters for the men to earn seventh and eighth place. Duggan was also 10th in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.39 seconds.
Justin Johnson (Houston, Texas / Manvel) also enjoyed success in the hurdles, finishing in 58.80 seconds in the 400 hurdles to finish 10th.
Price Schultea (Cypress, Texas / Cypress Christian) and
CC Gray (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Notre Dame Prep) had the best finishes on the track for Trinity, earning spots in the top 10 in the 400-meter dash. Gray finished sixth with a time of 58.10, while Schultea was fifth with his race of 49.70 seconds. Schultea was also eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.97 seconds, setting a new PR and moving up to eighth in the Trinity record book.
The men's and men's 800-meter run also featured three more Tiger top-10 finishers, with
Annette Smith (Houston, Texas / Ridge Point) leading the way with a time of 2:23.63 that was good for seventh place.
Sebastian Langer (Houston, Texas / Clear Lake) and
Walt Petersen (Winston-Salem, N.C. / Reynolds) finished back-to-back in ninth and 10th just over 0.10 seconds apart. Langer crossed the line in 1:56.49, while Petersen hit the line at 1:56.62.
There were four Tiger athletes to finish in the top 10 in the pole vault.
Seth Jacobs (Santa Fe, Texas / Santa Fe) led the way with his sixth-place mark of 4.10 meters, while
Jaden Martens (San Antonio, Texas / Churchill) was ninth after clearing 3.95 meters. On the women's side,
Victoria Baker (San Antonio, Texas / Alamo Heights) was ninth with a height of 3.05 meters, while
Maddie Wietstruck (Houston, Texas / Northland Christian) finished 10th with a vault of 2.80 meters.
Up Next
Both Tiger teams will be back in action in one week, traveling to Texas Lutheran University. The TLU D3 Challenge will be held on Saturday, March 23, in Seguin, Texas.
