The South Plains College track and field program competed in the NJCAA Indoor National Championships at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, last weekend, coming away with two National Champions and 39 All-American honors.
In the men's pole vault, Jules Courel won the National Championship with a vault of 5.28 meters (17' 3.75").
In the women's 600-meter run, Nour Rahou won the National Championship with a time of 1:29.71, which broke the facility record. Rahou was followed by Morgane Lenoir in third, who also broke the facility with a time of 1:30.35.
In the men's 600-meter run, Joshem Sylvester placed third with a time of 1:17.96 and Carlton Siwela placed seventh with a time of 1:18.78, both earning All-American honors. Yassine Bounasri would break the facility record in the prelims with a time of 1:17.27, but would fall short of All-American honors, coming in ninth in the finals.
In the women's 60-meter hurdles, Rashema Lindo placed fourth with a time of 8.64, and in the men's 60-meter hurdles, Jamison Lewis placed fifth with a time of 7.99, both earning All-American honors.
In the men's 200-meter dash, Caleb Kelly placed seventh with a time of 21.35, and in the men's 1,000-meter run, Bounasri would place sixth with a time of 2:26.84, both earning All-American honors.
In the men's 3,000-meter run, Ylies Mihoubi placed fifth with a time of 8:16.33, and in the men's 5,000-meter run, Mihoubi placed fifth with a time of 14:36.71 and Dennis Cheruiyot placed seventh with a time of 14:43.19, with all three finishes earning All-American honors.
In the women's high jump, Rachel Couderc placed seventh with a jump of 1.56 meters (5' 1.25"), and in the men's long jump, Jacorey Harrell placed eighth with a jump of 7.28 meters (23' 10.75"), both earning All-American honors.
In the women's shot put, Kahllah Bailey placed third with a throw of 14.14 meters (46' 4.75") and Suerana Alexander placed seventh with a throw of 13.56 meters (44' 6"), and in the women's pole vault, Olga Lapuzova placed sixth with a vault of 3.50 meters (11' 5.75"), all of which earned All-American honors.
In the women's triple jump, Leticia Ouaba placed second with a jump of 12.38 meters (40' 7.5"), and in the men's triple jump, Adem Boualbani placed third with a jump of 15.85 meters (52'), both earning All-American honors.
In the men's 4x400-meter relay, the Texans relay team of Siwela, Elijah Joseph, Sylvester and Aiden Kelly placed second with a time of 3:08.55, and in the women's 4x400-meter relay, the Lady Texans team of Camio White, Lenoir, Cheffonia Houston and Rahou placed third with a time of 3:46.39, resulting in both relays earning All-American honors.
In the women's 4x800-meter relay, the Lady Texans team of Rahou, Lenoir, Alison Guaman Tisalema and Jennifer Lozano placed second with a time of 9:19.75, which broke the facility record, and in the men's 4x800-meter relay, the Texans team of Demari Caldwell, Mihoubi, Abdirisak Saidgurhan and Sylves- ter placed fourth with a time of 7:35.27, resulting in both relays earning All-American honors.
And in the men's 4,000-meter distance medley relay, the Texans team of Saidgurhan, Ismael Risser, Caldwell and Tamer Sakar placed eighth with a time of 9:59.68, earning All-Ameri can honors.
Those placings resulted in a fifth-place finish for the Texans out of 35 men's team, and a sixth-place fin ish for the Lady Texans out of 33 teams, both of which South Plains College Head Track Coach Wesley Miller reflected on.
"The meet was a stark contrast between the men and women. I am so proud of how the women com - peted. They had many personal bests and gutsy performances. They outper - formed their projections and finished seven points outside of a trophy. I know they are hungry to get on the po - dium and improve outdoors, and I'm excited to see their growth," Coach Miller said. "While the men had several good individual perfor - mances, ultimately, we fell short of our goal and missed a good chance to win a team championship. We had multiple chances to take charge of the meet on both days and unfortunately did not. Now the focus is on making improvements for a better performance outdoors. I'm looking forward to seeing how they respond."
Following the Indoor Na tional Meet, South Plains College track and field will enjoy a break from competi tion before returning at the West Texas Relays on March 20 for the beginning of the outdoor season.