OREM, Utah – After three days in which high winds, rain, lightning and sun almost all appeared on each day, Tarleton State Track and Field closed out the event with Gabriele Tosti becoming the WAC Champion in the triple jump and 21 total medals claimed by the Texans at the 2024 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Hal Wing Track and Field.
Both the men’s and the women’s squad both posted higher team finishes than a year ago in Nacogdoches. The men improved to sixth with 76 points after a seventh-place performance in 2023. The women’s team recorded 61 points earning sixth place as well, improving from 11th last season.
Men
Tosti won the gold medal in the triple jump, the lone gold performance of the three days. Tosti’s best jump of 51 feet 7 inches, nearly two feet farther than the second place competitor. Jaden Hall also qualified for the finals in the event, placing seventh with a best jump of 47 feet, 10 inches.
Hugo Menin broke his program record in the 400 hurdles, becoming the first to post a sub-50 time. His 49.99-second run, earned him the silver medal, separating from the champion, GCU’s Daviciea McCartney by thousandths of a second.
Justin Raines earned a pair of silver medals in the 100 and 200. Raines opened the day in the 100, posting a 10.43 after running a 10.20 in the preliminaries, his personal best and the third fastest in program history. The reigning 200-meter champ was edged in the final meters to earn the silver in 20.85 seconds. Reid Vincent earned fourth in the 100 in 10.54 to post a pair of Texans in the top four of the podium.
Caterrin Cox and Konnor Hoerman teamed up to give the Texans another second-fourth finish. Cox earned his first WAC medal finish in the 110-meter hurdles crossing in 13.82 seconds. Hoeman was not far behind claiming fourth in 14.13.
Kevin Baez earned a sixth place finish in the 1500. The distance runner ran a 3:49.04 in the morning then attempted to run the 5k just an hour after. Baez will graduate after spending the past six seasons donning a Texan uniform.
In the field, Davi Torres completed his record-breaking weekend with a medalist finish in the high jump. Torres best jump of 6-7.5 earned him the bronze medal in the open high jump. He finished in ninth after the first two days in the decathlon. Among the decathletes, he posted the best high jump and recorded nearly the same jump in the open finals. Ethan Bratton earned a fifth place finish in the discus. The senior placed fifth for the second straight year, this year with a best throw of 161-10.5. Jaxson Bray recorded an eighth place finish in the pole vault with a best height of 15-8.25.
The men’s 4×100-meter relay of Vincent, Raines, Everett Sadler, David Mvundura set a new program record in 39.43. The quartet earned the bronze medal in the opening track event of the final day.
Women
The women’s squad was able to collect multiple medalist finishes as well. The women’s team earned a pair of both silver and bronze medals on the final day as well as a third bronze on day two.
Bryah Davis earned the women’s lone individual silver medal in the 100 meters. She held the second best time in the preliminaries and crossed second in the finals on the third day in 11.59. Freshman dual-sport athlete Victoria Cameron earned a fourth-place finish in her first WAC Championships after entering the finals in sixth. She posted an 11.72 time in the finals.
Texans occupied four of the eight podium spots in the high jump, with Rylee Hennig earning a bronze medal. Her best jump of five feet, eight inches was only reached by four of the competitors. Kassidy Kirkpatrick placed fifth, Jourdaine Cerenil notched sixth and Jordan Rae was slotted eighth all with a best jump of five feet, five inches.
On Friday, Morgan Lamberson earned the Texans’ first medal of the 2024 championships, with a bronze in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Lamberson crossed in 10:56.07, exhausting all of her energy.
Taylor McFarland earned a pair of podium finishes in the 200 and 400. In the 400, McFarland finished fourth in 54.42 seconds. She was followed behind closely by Aaliyah Rifort-Delem who finished in fifth in 54.98. She concluded her day with a fifth place finish in the 200, crossing in 24.06.
Rese Schoonover earned her first podium finish, slotting in eighth in the 400-meter hurdles. She crossed in 1:04.29.
Tarleton earned a pair of medals in the relays. The Texans opened the day with a silver medal in the 4×100 relay in 44.70. The squad consisting of Davis, Anayah Copeland, Amandine Estival and Cameron earned the women’s first silver of the WAC Championships. The ladies closed the day with a bronze finish in the 4×400 as well. Both relays set new program records with the 4×400 crossing in 3:41.35 consisting of Rifort-Delem, Estival, Alessa King and McFarland.
The pair of sixth-place finishes closed the Texans’ 2024 campaign. The Texans’ are expected to complete their Division I reclassification on July 1, 2024, making future Texans eligible for the NCAA Championships next season.
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