PITTSBURG, Kan. – Tarleton track and field traveled with a smaller crew than usual for their first indoor meet of the season at the Crimson and Gold Invitational hosted by Pittsburg State.
That was no matter as they wasted no time breaking records and showing extremely well to jumpstart the Texans 2023 season at the Robert W. Plaster Center Saturday.
For starters, two student-athletes broke indoor school records, and one tied a record.
On the women’s side, junior Bonnie Clifton broke the indoor school record in the weight throw, throwing 15.72m (51′ 7″). The throw shattered her previous personal record of 42′ 8″. Clifton placed sixth in the women’s weight throw on Saturday.
Freshman Jordan Rae finished in first place in the women’s high jump after a 1.72m (5′ 7 ¾ “) jump that tied her for first place all-time for the indoor high jump at Tarleton. She tied Rylee Hennig for first as Hennig also jumped 1.72m in her freshman campaign in 2022.
For the men, freshman Gabriele Tosti broke the indoor school record for triple jump, jumping 14.84m (48′ 8 ¼”). The Seriate, Italy native’s 14.84m jump surpassed Jaden Hall’s previous No. 1 all-time indoor jump of 13.97m. Tosti’s jump earned him first place honors at the meet.
“It was exciting to be back competing as a team,” said head coach Clay Holland. “We had a good weekend but our student-athletes have high standards and expectations so I could tell that they were far from satisfied. As a coach that makes me eager to get back to work because we have the athletes that can accomplish some big goals this season.”
Other notable women’s performances include Hanna Dudley’s seventh-place finish (7.68 seconds) in the 60-meter dash. She was followed by Summer Croxton in 11th with a 7.78 time (ties lifetime personal record) and Danielle Thomas in 16th with a 7.84 (personal record).
In the women’s 400m dash, Macie Evans finished seventh, running 58.66 second which slotted her in at 10th all-time on the indoor 400m list at Tarleton.
In the 200m dash Summer Croxton placed third (24.97), Hanna Dudley sixth (25.16), and Nyla Barlow 10th (25.51). All times were good for top 10 all-time in Tarleton history.
Kailey Sykora managed a fourth-place finish in the women’s 800-meter dash, running 2:17.72. The time is a personal record for Sykora and is good for second all-time in the indoor 800m at Tarleton.
Looking back towards the men’s side, Reid Vincent and Alan Palmer placed second and third respectively in the long jump. Vincent jumped 7.29m (23′ 11″) which replaced his previous jump in 2022 of 7.15m for second place on the all-time Tarleton indoor long jump list. Palmer jumped 7.24m (23′ 9″) in his third-place finish.
Justin Raines had two top 10 finishes on the day, placing fourth in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.20 and coming in ninth in the 60m dash with a time of 6.85. Konnor Hoerman placed right behind Raines in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.28, tying his lifetime personal record.
In one of the mor impressive feats of the day, freshman Canyun Staton placed third in the 400m dash with a time of 49.16. The run landed him in the all-time top 10 list at Tarleton for the indoor 400m dash in his first ever collegiate competition.
Bailey Smotek bested a personal record and secured a spot in second on Tarleton’s all-time list in the indoor 800m dash as he placed fifth at the meet, running 1:52.56.
The Texans will now rest as they head into the holiday break. Next, they return to Stephenville to begin classes in the spring 2023 semester as well as resuming training for the upcoming indoor slate. The next indoor meet will be in Lubbock as Texas Tech hosts the Corky Classic on Jan. 13-14.
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