By DON GARRETT
Special Correspondent
It was a good weekend for ACU track and field, particularly with some outstanding performances at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. The team split into halves with half going to California and half going down the highway to San Angelo. There were good performances at both locations:
Mt. SAC Relays - Walnut, Calif.
In one of the largest meets held in the world every year, there were some outstanding performances, but a few truly stood out:
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Nick Jones continued his strong junior season by finishing second in the Open Division Shot Put, with a personal record throw of 60-8.5, the first time he has ever thrown better than 60 feet in competition and the first time an ACU shot putter has thrown better than 60 feet in eight years.
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Amos Sang ran a NCAA Divison II leading time of 13:42.88 in the 5000 meters, a new personal record for him and only eight seconds off the school record held by the record-breaking Nicodemus Naimadu.
• Alyse Goldsmith also set a personal record in the 5000 meters with a time of 16:56.18, a provisional national qualifying time in that event and the first provisional time run by Goldsmith since her transfer from Oklahoma State.
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Chloe Susset is another Wildcat runner who ran a personal record and provisional qualifying time in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, running a 10:48.99, her first time under 11 minutes in that race and a time that moved her to ninth place on the national list.
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Desmond Jackson continued his senior season on a torrid pace as he ran a NCAA automatic quaifying time in the 200 of 20.85 in winning the Olympic Development section of the Relays. He also won the Olympic Development section of the 100 in a time of 10.46, defeating a group of NCAA Division I sprinters in both races.
Other solid performances for ACU in Mt. SAC included
Tyler Fleet, getting 13th in the hammer throw with a toss of 186-3;
Jordan Geary running a PR in the 200 of 21.68; and Amanda Ouedraogo getting 8th in the Open Division of the triple jump with a leap of 40-7.75.
ASU David Noble Relays - San Angelo
The list of noteworthy efforts in San Angelo begins with some strong efforts by the multi-athletes, as
Cassie Brooks reached national provisional qualifying status scoring 4,441 in the heptathlon in just her second heptathlon ever. In fact, Brooks only took up the heptathlon just over a month ago and is already the highest ranked heptathlete in the Lone Star Conference.
Redshirt freshman
Michelle Ratliff also turned in a personal record heptathlon effort scoring 4,371 and only missing provisional qualifying status by 29 points. She is the second-ranked heptathlete in the LSC currently. On the men's side,
Parker Petty led after the first day before a no-height in the pole vault scuttled his attempt to improve on his previous provisional mark in the decathlon from earlier in the season. In addition, Matthew Stark scored 5,954 points in the decathlon, a personal record for him of over 200 points and an improvement of over 650 points from the 2010 season when he was competing for the Colorado School of Mines.
In addition,
Michael Rasor actually ran his two fastest time in the 110 hurdles as a Wildcat, running a 14.69 in the prelims and and then coming back to win the finals in the evening, running a new personal record and provisional qualifying time of 14.53.
Sydney Smith also improved on her provisional qualifying time in the 100, running 11.91 in the prelims, before finishing 4th in the finals of the 100 with an 11.89.
Freshman Amelia Mitchell had her second-best throw in the javelin as a Wildcat finishing third with a throw of 122-11.
Romain Rybicki (4:06.08) and Jacob Schofield (personal record of 4:08.07) finished third and fourth in the 1500 in the evening, after Schofield earned the right to run in the A section by winning the B section in the morning.
William Pike was 4th in the 5,000 meter run with a 15:55.75.
This weekend, the Wildcats are taking the entire team to run in Waco at Baylor's Michael Johnson Classic, named for the great American quartermiler who ran collegiately at Baylor in the 1990's.
