ย The Texas A&M-Kingsville track and field program wrapped up the 13th Annual Cactus Cup on Saturday at Pepsi Field at Javelina Stadium, with both the men and the women’s team finishing second as 12 Blue and Gold thletes finished atop the field in their events.
The men’s team champion was Angelo State at 230.59, as the Javelinas owned 217.33 team points. Texas Lutheran placed third at 67.50.
On the women’s side, ASU finished first at 208.70 points, while TAMUK sat second with 178.60 in front of TLU who scored 117.50.
Redshirt senior Johnathon Harper (Lorena, Texas) and classmate Dean Wallace (Geronimo, Texas) completed day two of the men’s decathlon. Harper took the top spot following a stellar day in which he dominated the competition.
Harper entered the day boasting a point total of 3912 and exited at an NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark of 7196, setting a new meet record and adding Cactus Cup champion to his resume.
Wallace managed a second-place performance, recording a score of 6561 en route to the podium and good enough for an provo mark of his own.
Junior Jordan Wilson (Blytheville, Ark.) picked up a second-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 7.03m (23-0.75) before claiming fourth in the high jump at 1.85m (6-0.75).
Joining Wilson in the high jump, junior Tayvion Johnson (Houston, Texas) cleared a bar of 2.00m (6-06.75) en route to a gold medal.
The Blue and Gold relay teams found success early as the women’s 4x100m relay team comprised of junior Taylor Roberson (Bay City, Texas), senior Teandria Taylor (Rosebud, Texas), senior Keandria Taylor (Rosebud, Texas), and freshmen Bryssa Guzman ( Weslaco, Texas) took the top spot with a time of 50.54.
Shortly after that, the men’s squad clocked in at 41.42 with freshman Shaun Gill (Belize City, Belize), senior Todd Nicholas (Eagle Lake, Texas), freshman Michael Samihamba (Dallas, Texas), and freshman Jonathan Macareno (Kingsville, Texas) securing a silver medal.
Gill went on to win the 100m at 10.55, narrowly besting Macareno who managed a time of 10.70 to earn second place. Samihamba, meanwhile, was champion in the 200m, recording a time of 21.61.
Roberson’s success continued in the 100m as she was crowned champion in the event following a lightning-fast time of 12.19. Teandria Taylor also found her way to the podium in the event as the All-Decade selection clocked in at 12.74.
The Hogs swept the 400m with freshman Taylor Chaney (Missouri City, Texas) claiming first at 49.48, just edging out teammate Bryson Dyer (New Braunfels, Texas) who clocked in at 49.51.
Rounding out the top three, freshman Sterling Riles (Stafford, Texas) crossed the finish line at 49.82.
Later on, in the 4x400m relay, Chaney, Dyer and Riles were joined by sophomore Johnny Davila (Edinburg, Texas) to claim the top spot with a time of 3:16.97.
In the 200m, Roberson continued to shine as she added a silver medal to her collection with a time of 26.24.
It was business as usual for the Javelina throwers, with sophomore D.J. Delancy (Bethel Town, Jamacia) unleashing a 16.98m (55-8.50) toss in the shot put, claiming first place and logging a provisional mark in the process with 20th-best measure in the nation.
Just behind Delancy, senior Jorge Rios (Port Lavaca, Texas) reached 15.82m (51-11) to claim silver. Rios would go on to snag another second-place finish in the discus as he measured at 49.00m (160-09).
Sophomore Veronica Garcia (Laredo, Texas) and classmate Gertrudis Balli (Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico) performed well in the discus. The pair finished back-to-back in second and third, with Garcia measuring at 43.74m (146-03) and Balli at 42.00m (143-06).
Additionally, sophomore Emily Habib (Corpus Christi, Texas) found herself third in the women’s shot put after a toss of 11.35m (37-3).
In the women’s 800m, junior Larissa Sanchez Gonzalez (Queretaro, Mexico) led the pack with a time of 2:29.46 en route to a Cactus Cup title. Freshmen Jacqueline Barrera (Alice, Texas), meanwhile, placed second at 2:45.53.
The men’s iteration saw another Blue and Gold member take first as junior Mikel Escobar (Ben Bolt, Texas) complete two laps in 1:56.17, with classmate Reyes Rodriguez (La Feria, Texas) placing third at 2:00.65.
First-year student Abigail Whitaker (Devine, Texas) clocked in at 13:07.51 to claim the title in the 3000m steeplechase, while freshman Cassandra Lozano (Kingsville, Texas) claimed second at 14:20.33.
Junior My’Destinee Franklin (Bay City, Texas) placed second in the women’s triple jump, with a leap of 10.86m (35-07.75), while freshman Jezell Shows (Comal, Texas) earned silver in the long jump at 5.33m (17-06)
Newcomer Beyonce Hernandez (Portland, Texas) represented TAMUK in the women’s 1500m logging a third-place finish with a time of 5:31.31.
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