Bobcats track and field sweep SBC Outdoor Championships – The University Star

The Texas State track and field program swept the annual Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships in Harrisonburg, Virginia from May 8-10. The men’s team racked up 145 points, while the women’s team accumulated 119 points en route to their second straight Conference Outdoor Championship.

May 8

Lara Roberts won gold in the hammer throw with a mark of 68.84m. Roberts was the only athlete to record a throw over 60 meters.

Freshman Charlize Goody took gold in the women’s javelin with a career best mark of 51.09m. Goody dominated the competition as she was the only athlete to record a mark over 50 meters.

Conor Warzecha placed second on the men’s side of the javelin event with a mark of 63.58m. Warzecha contributed eight points to the men’s team.

Two more men Bobcats earning points for the squad were Edward Ta’amilo and Manfred Mannamaa in the men’s hammer throw. Ta’amilo placed fifth earning four points and Mannamaa placed sixth earning three points

Another duo to earn points in the same event were pole vaulters Breanna Brandes and Matilde Poli. Both of them recorded personal best marks of 3.81m and placed seventh and eighth, respectively.

Nyomi Garcia recorded the third fastest time in school history in the women’s 10,000m event with a time of 36:16.62. Garcia placed eighth overall at the meet.

May 9

Easton Hammond took gold in the decathlon with a total of 7,131 points across the 10 decathlon events.

Michael Hermes placed second in the decathlon event as he totaled a personal best of 6,944 points. Hermes and Hammond combined to earn 18 points for the men’s team.

Melanie Duron won her second straight conference outdoor title in the shot put event with a personal best mark of 17.26m to take the gold medal. Duron is the only Texas State athlete to ever win the shot put in consecutive seasons.

Junior Sophia Haberer placed third in the shot put event with a throw of 15.22m. Haberer put more points on the board for the women’s squad.

Chris Preddie recorded a mark of 7.85m to win gold in the men’s long jump for a third straight season.

May 10

Abigail Parra, the woman’s top meet scorer, combined for 23 points in three events. She placed within the top four in the 800m, 1500m and the 5000m.

Parra took gold in the 1500m and recorded the second-best time in school history with a time of 4:23.76s. In the 800m, Parra placed third with a time of 2:08.58s. To cap off her extraordinary day, Parra recorded the third-best time in school history in the 5000m with a time of 17:08.63s and placed fourth overall.

Drew Donley placed within the top three in two events, the 100 and 200m. Donley took gold in the 200m with a time of 20.75 and third in the 100m with a time of 10.28.

Shedrack Akpeki won silver with a season-best time of 10.27 in the 100m for the Bobcats.

in the 100m for the Bobcats. The dynamic duo of jumpers Aiden Hayes and Kason O’Riley put together historic performances. Both finished with marks of 2.25m which tied a conference record set back in 1994. Hayes took gold while O’Riley took silver as a result of missing more jumps throughout the event.

Preddie made his second trip to the podium this meet after he placed third in the triple jump with a mark of 15.30m.

Graduate student Daniel Harrold recorded a season-best time of 13.58m in the 110m hurdles that earned him silver in his final Sun Belt Championship appearance.

Mihaljo Katanic placed third in the 400m hurdles to rack up some more valuable points for the men’s squad.

Charlize Goody and Danie Strooh both found the podium after their performances in the discus event. For the women, Goody placed second with a mark of 46.98m, while on the men’s side Strooh placed third with a mark of 52.72m.

Next Meet

The Bobcats will look to carry the momentum from this meet into the Texas State Twilight Meet. The meet will be hosted by Texas State at the Bobcat Track and Field Complex on May 17.