The UMKC track and field team saw two school records fall and one USA Junior Nationals-qualifying performance across three separate meets in the Los Angeles area, the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate (April 14), the Bryan Clay Invitational (April 14 & 15), and the Beach Invitational (April 15 & 16).
Sophomore Alex Yoxall broke the UMKC school record in the javelin on Thursday at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate in Long Beach, crushing the previous-best mark by over four meters at 64.22 meters. The record-breaking heave placed him in first in the event, while teammate Harpreet Dosanjh took second with a toss of 55.52 meters.
Freshman thrower Matia Finley, who has already made her mark in the UMKC record books in the discus, moved her way up the school charts with a USA Junior National-qualifying throw of 47.70 meters at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate. The mark is good for second in the UMKC books, just 1.8 meters shy of the record set in 2002.
Junior Bryce Miller broke an 18-year-old record in the 1,500-meter run on Thursday at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Miller clocked in at 3:46.11, besting the UMKC mark set by Lee Tittle in 1999 of 3:48.82.
Aside from the school-record performances, multiple personal records fell over the weekend, setting the tone for the Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships just under a month away.
Among the personal records that fell over the weekend were Traci Mills and Genel Rollins clocking personal-best times in the 100 meters at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate. Mills finished third in the event with a time of 12.11, and Rollins finished in a close fourth at 12.13 seconds.
Rollins also recorded a personal record in the 200 meters, with another fourth-place finish at 25.01 seconds.
Kylie Conrow won the women’s 400 meters at the Pacific Coast, blazing her way to a 57.44 second lap, while Rachel Culberson finished second at 57.73 seconds.
Mallory Short set a personal record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.95 seconds, good for second place. In the 400-meter hurdles, freshman Louisa Nylander set a personal-best with a time of 1:04.39 that earned her fifth-place.
Mills took second in the triple jump, improving her personal best to 11.62 meters, and Yasmin Musaddiq also set a personal record in the women’s field events with a 49.94-meter heave in the women’s hammer throw.
Despite a late adjustment to the women’s 4×100-meter relay team on Thursday, the women picked up a respectable fourth-place with a time of 47.2 seconds.
The men’s 4×1 team took second, fighting through a set of bad handoffs for a time of 42.1 seconds. The 4×400-meter relay team posted a time of 3:19.3 behind monster splits from the entire team. Jason Shaw clocked in at 50.37 seconds, handing to Darrien Case who has a split of 50.02, onto Xavier Kenney who posted a personal-best of 49.4 seconds, and Jackson Barbour finished it off with a time of 49.2.
Individually for the men, Jamarice Preston won the 400 meters with a time of 48.21 seconds, and Case took second in the 800 meters with a time of 1:53.74.
Freshman Christopher Bryan took fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.96 seconds, and Shaw posted a third-place finish in the 400 hurdles at 54.80 seconds.
Jeremy Harr took first in the men’s triple jump with a leap of 14.33 meters, while WAC indoor triple jump champion Dinsdale Morgan placed second with a jump of 14.24 meters.
Martin Williams posted a personal-best in the men’s hammer with a throw of 53.54 meters to round out the PR’s at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate.
Chandler Carreon, Sarah Fogarty and Gabrielle Penaflor competed in the first day of action at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Thursday, with each of them posting personal records.
Fogarty and Penaflor competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, where Fogarty posted a time of 10:51.18, and Penaflor crushed her previous PR by 17 seconds, coming in at 11:18.32.
Carreon posted a 17:30.12 time in the 5,000 meters, besting her previous personal record by 16 seconds, and wrapping up day one of the action in California.
Miller’s school record performance in 1,500 and performances from the men’s and women’s 4×100 teams were the only action at the Bryan Clay Invite on Friday, with the men’s taking second at 41.95 and the women posting a time of 47.40 seconds.
Friday’s action at the Beach Invitational included a slew of ‘Roos competing in the 10,000-meter run.
For the women, it was Kelly Carpenter running solo, where she posted a time of 37:25.45 for fourth, and the men saw three runners finish in the top-10, with Quinlan Moll leading the way with a third-place finish at 31:17.09. Griffin Humphreys clocked in at 31:44.94 for sixth, and Jason Fambrough finished eighth at 31:53.53.
Saturday’s action at the Beach Invitationl was less active in the personal-record department, but there were several respectable performances posted, including a 15th place finish out of 77 competitors in the 100 meters by Chadayne Walker (10.85). Finley posted a 13th-place finish in the discus at 46.05 meters, and Bryan placed 15th in the men’s high jump.
The ‘Roos next compete in the historic Kansas Relays in Lawrence, Kansas, April 20-23 at Rock Chalk Park, home of the 2016 Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships, hosted by UMKC.