The South Plains College track and field program competed at the Stan Scott Invite at Texas Tech University on Jan. 23, and it was an extremely fruitful meet as 14 athletes came away with top 10 marks in the NJCAA.
Three of those marks came in the men’s 400-meter dash as Carlton Siwela placed third out of 28 competitors with a time of 46.86, Elijah Joseph placed fourth with a time of 47.42 and Aiden Kelly placed fifth with a time of 47.61. Those times now put Siwela second, Joseph sixth and Kelly ninth in the NJCAA. In the women's 400-meter dash, Nour Rahou placed 13th out of 26 competitors
with a time of 56.25, which ranks sixth in the NJCAA. In the women's 600-yards, Morgane Lenoir placed fourth out of 10 competitors with a time of 1:26.04 and Cheffonia Houston placed fifth with a time of 1:27.34.
After a time conversion to 600-meters, those marks put Lenoir at sixth and Houston at ninth in the NJCAA. In the men's 600-yards, Yassine Bounasri placed third out of 10 competitors with a time of 1:08.97 and Joshem Sylvester placed fourth with a time of 1:09.95. After a time conversion to 600-meters, Bounasri’s time puts him second in the NJCAA, while Sylvester sits fifth from a better mark earlier this season.
In the men's 60-meter dash, Jacorey Harrell qualified for the finals after running a 6.79 in the prelims, and he would improve upon that with a 6.75 in the finals to place seventh out of 31 competitors. His finals time ranks seventh in the NJCAA.
Other Texans standouts in the event included Carlton Siwela with a time of 6.83 to place ninth, Kyle Lawrence with a time of 6.83 to place 10th, Caleb Kelly with a time of 6.89 to place 13th and Elijah Joseph with a time of 6.93 to place 15th.
In the men's 3,000 meters, Dennis Cheruiyot placed first out of nine competitors with a time of 8:19.53 and Ylies Mihoubi placed second with a time of 8:34.04. In the NJ CAA, Cheruiyot now ranks first and Mihoubi ranks 10th.
In the women's triple jump, Leticia Ouaba placed second out of nine competitors with a jump of 12.73 meters, which ranks first in the NJCAA. In the women's shot put, Kahllah Bailey placed sixth out of 11 competitors with a throw of 12.77 meters and Suerena Alexander placed seventh with a throw of 12.74 meters. Alexander’s mark puts her in sixth in the NJCAA; meanwhile Bailey still sits third from a better mark earlier this season.
In the men's pole vault, Jules Courel placed fourth out of nine competitors with a vault of 5.20 meters, and Diego Constantino placed seventh with a vault of 4.75 meters. Constatino’s mark ranks fourth in the NJCAA, while Courel remains ranked first from a better mark ear lier this season.
In the women's 200-meter dash, Oluwatumininu Sanyaolu placed 16th out of 33 competitors with a time of 24.63, which ranks seventh in the NJCAA. In the men's 200-meter dash, Caleb Kelly placed 11th out of 35 competitors with a time of 21.48 and Lilian Caron-Douillard placed 15th with a time of 21.80.
In the men's 800-meters, Tamer Sakar placed third out of 17 competitors with a time of 1:51.95.
In the women's 60-meter hurdles, Rashema Lindo placed 12th out of 24 competitors with a time of 8.83 and Sanyaolu placed 15th with a time of 8.94, while in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, William Ndiba placed 11th out 16 competitors with a time of 8.17 and Jamison Lewis placed 14th with a time 8.25.
Following a great meet for the SPC track and field program, they enjoyed an off weekend and now return to competition this Friday and Saturday at the Char- lie Thomas Invitational at Texas A&M University.
They’re set to compete against the field of Texas A&M, Abilene Christian, Arizona State, East Texas A&M, Houston, Rice, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, SMU, Texas Southern, Texas State, UCF, UT-Arlington, UT-Rio Grand Valley, UTSA and Western Texas.