Texan Track and Field heads to WAC Championships for season finale

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OREM, Utah – Tarleton State is set to conclude their fourth Division I season at the WAC Championships hosted by Utah Valley at the Hal Wing Track and Field on Thursday morning.

This year’s WAC Championship will open on Thursday with the final day and award ceremonies on Saturday evening. The first two days will include preliminaries and finals of both track and field events, with Saturday’s events all finals. For live and up-to-date coverage on Texan performance follow @tarletonxctrack on X and Instagram. ESPN+ will be streaming track events only and live stats will be provided on the free app, meettrax. Kyle Charbonneau and Matthew Baiamonte will be on the call each day.

“I am really excited for our team to kick things off,” Interim head coach Chase Rathke. “We are getting everyone back at the right time, and we are firing on all cylinders at the perfect time. This part of the year is always a lot of fun for us, getting to watch them achieve what they’ve worked so hard for this season. We get rolling tomorrow morning with our multis and hammer throw. I am very excited for them to get our team off to a hot start for the three day event.”

The Texans have had a very productive outdoor season with four individuals setting new program records, nine individuals posting a top three best in the WAC this season, and 39 student-athletes improving their personal best to the top 10 in program history. Angel Contreras set a new school record in the 10,000-meters at the Texas Relays, crossing in 31:14.26. Hugo Menin broke the program record in the 400 meter hurdles by .36 seconds at the Michael Johnson Invitational to post the second-best time by any WAC athlete this outdoor season in 51.46 seconds. The final track athlete to break a school record is Taylor McFarland. Her 54.70 second run in the 400 made her the first Texan to run a sub-55 second 400 meters in program history. Her performance at the Michael Johnson Invitational is the fourth-best in the WAC in 2024. Hannah Cade posted a best vault of 4.0 meters to break Sage Barmettler’s previous record vault of 3.72 set at the WAC Championships in Nacogdoches last May. Cade’s height at the Clyde Hart Invitational is the best this season.

Nine total Texans have turned in nine top four performances in the 2024 WAC outdoor season. On the men’s side Gabriele Tosti has the longest triple jump in the conference posting a 52.96 meter jump at the Michael Johnson Invitational. Justin Raines’ 10.22 100-meter sprint at the Texas Relays also tops all individuals in the WAC. Raines ranks fourth in the WAC in the 200 with a 20.99 second run at the Joe Gillespie Invitational, just .26 seconds from the best time in the conference this season. Caterrin Cox recorded the third fastest time in the 110 hurdles crossing in 14.15 seconds at the Joe Gillespie Invitational.

On the women’s squad, Bryah Davis posted the third best 100 of the season clocking an 11.48 at the Michael Johnson Invitational. The Texans 4×100 Relay ran a 45.50 at the Clyde Hart Classic, the third best time in the conference this season. The women’s 4×400 relay ranks fourth in the WAC with a time of 3:44.63 at the Corky/Crofoot Shootout. Kassidy Kirkpatrick’s best height of 5 feet and eight inches is the third highest high jump in the league in 2024.

Last season at the WAC Championships in Nacogdoches, Texas the Texans brought home titles in three events. Justin Raines will enter the 2024 championships as the reigning 200-meter champ with a winning time of 20.62 seconds last year. Alan Palmer took home the Texans’ second individual crown last season winning the high jump with a best jump of 2.10 meters. Palmer exhausted his eligibility in his graduate year last season. The men’s team earned a seventh place finish totaling 77 points in the first season eligible for the WAC Tournament.

The women’s squad was unable to crown any individual champions, but took home gold in the 4×400-meter relay, while setting a new school record. The relay team consisting of returners Alessa King and Taylor McFarland as well as Jordan Anglin and Macie Evans, crossed the line in 3:41.39. The squad will hope to improve on their 11^th place finish where they scored 27.5 points.

The Texans will complete their fourth season of Division I and WAC competition with the conclusion of the 2024 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.