UCA women placed fifth and men finished sixth overall despite the cold and windy conditions of the 2014 Skechers Carl Knight Invitational on April 4 and 5 at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.
At the two-day meet, the distance races were Friday night and the other events were Saturday. Junior Jonathan Burgess said the team did pretty well.
“There are still some improvements that need to be made before conference, but we still have plenty of time to work on them,” he said. “Overall I feel it was a good meet for us.”
Junior Kelton Ray said the meet challenged the team.
“It was an increase in competition [from]our past two outdoors meets,” he said.
For future meets, Ray said the team will “stay mentally prepared and not let things outside our
control like the weather dictate how we perform.”
Senior Erika Seltzer said the distance races went well, with she and others running their best times.
On Saturday she said the team came out and competed well.
“I could tell a lot of them put in some hard work over spring break because their times or events improved,” she said. “We did an awesome job at supporting each other in each and every event.”
Seltzer said she would take away from the meet how much team support really matters during meets.
“During my race almost the entire team was out on the track cheering for me and it made me run so much faster, and I know it helps with everyone else as well,” she said.
Sophomore Ryan Davidson said the team looks good as its members are trying to round into form for conference.
“As far as the distance guys go, I think we are coming away with this one knowing we have to get more closing speed for the end of the race,” he said. “We just know we still have some work to do before conference.”
For the men, in the 100-meter dash, senior Trey Carter placed eighth with a time of 11.02, senior Ben Barker placed 10th with a time of 11.09 and freshman Ethan Bly tied for 12th with a time of 11.11.
In the 200-meter dash, sophomore Nicholas Holt placed 17th with a time of 22.53 and junior Roy Lowery placed 19th with a time of 22.70.
In the 400-meter dash, freshman Tevon Boyd placed third with a time of 48.44 and junior Chance Tanner came in right behind at fourth place with a time of 48.50.
Junior Dustie Smith and Ray came in 15th and 21st, respectively, with times of 49.57 and 50.36.
Junior Connor Ryan placed 10th in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.71 and sophomore Emanuel Grady placed 19th with a time of 1:59.74.
In the 5000-meter run, Burgess placed sixth with a time of 15:02.23, senior Benjamin Gerber placed eighth with a time of 15:06.34 and sophomore Albert Maeder placed 13th with a time of 15:29.86.
In the 400-meter hurdles, senior Trevor Peacock placed 16th with a time of 57.08, junior Matthew Bogues placed 19th with a time of 59.01 and sophomore Tim Arnold placed 20th with a time of 1:00.10.
In the 3000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Ryan Davidson placed seventh with a time of 9:37.35 and freshman Grant Williams placed 11th with a time of 9:51.12.
UCA’s 4×100 meter relay team, which consisted of Bly, Ray, Carter and Tanner, placed fifth with a time of 42.25.
UCA had two teams place in the 4×400 meter relay. Boyd, Ray, Smith and Tanner placed fifth with a time of 3:14.84 and sophomore Roy Lowery, freshman Powell Bryant, freshman Derrick Dowden and freshman Darrell Johnson placed 10th with a time of 3:21.87.
Junior Travis Nagle placed 13th in the pole vault with a jump of 4.31 meters and placed 12th in the long jump “B” section with a jump of 5.50 meters.
In the long jump “A” section, Carter placed eighth with a jump of 6.78 meters and sophomore Anthony Farris-King placed 12th with a jump of 6.42 meters.
In the “B” section, freshman Alex Miles placed 14th with a 6.06-meter jump and freshman Mathew McDonald placed 19th with a 5.51-meter jump.
Farris-King placed third in the triple jump with 14.48m. For the women, sophomore Brooke Cassar won first place in the 5000-meter run with a time of 17:04.17.
Setzler placed fourth with a time of 17:23.42 and freshman Brigette Caruthers placed 12th with a time of 17:51.12, both of which were outdoor personal records.
In the 100-meter dash, senior Tanesha Maxwell placed second with a time of 11.87, junior Tyaniah Cash placed 13th with a time of 12.30 and senior Anilah Bashir placed 15th with a time of 12.34.
In the 400-meter dash, junior Khadijah Smith placed 13th with a 58.77 time and freshman Tiauna Jefferson placed 12th with a 1:00.98 time.
In the 800-meter run, senior Jordan Chadwick placed second with a time of 2:15.84, freshman Marine Lecart placed fifth with a time of 2:16.90, senior Kayla Nehus placed 14th with a time of 2:23.64 and senior Jasmine Johnson placed 20th with a time of 2:35.03.
In the 1,500-meter run, Lecart placed third with a time of 4:38.31 and Nehus placed 11th with a time of 4:50.86.
Bashir placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.58 and junior Jean-Neka Black won 16th with a time of 15.21.
Black placed 11th in the 400-meter hurdles (1:06.55) and freshman Leigha Gills placed 15th (1:08.69). In the 4×100 meter relay, Bashir, Cash, Jefferson and Maxwell placed fifth with a time of 46.99.
In the 4×400 meter relay, Bashir, Black, Chadwick and Smith placed sixth with a time of 3:55.99.
Gibson, Swanson, Gills and Hill placed 13th with a time of 4:16.73.
Freshman Samantha Gibson placed 12th in the high jump with 1.55 meters, freshman Hadley Swanson placed 16th, freshman Sarah Calhoun placed 15th in the pole vault and freshman Sofia Ramirez-Maciel placed seventh in the triple jump.
Freshman Medley Hinman placed 16th in the hammer throw with 35.84 meters and Freshman Anna Kirk placed 18th in the hammer throw with 25.42 meters and 11th in the javelin throw with 33.43 meters.
