WICHITA, Kan – Over the course of the last three days, the Southwestern College men's and women's outdoor track & field squads attended the Friends University Spring Invite in Wichita for each of the teams' second meet of the season. Several events took place on Thursday and Friday, while the bulk of the competition occurred on Saturday.

On Thursday and Friday, Isai Aguilar competed in the men's Decathlon, and finished seventh as an individual. He racked up marks of 11.77 seconds in the 100m Dash, 19'6.25" in the Long Jump, 33'9" in the Shot Put, 54.09 seconds in the 400m Run, 17.78 seconds in the 110m Hurdles, 75'4.75" in the Discus, 9'2.25" in the Pole Vault, 114'9.5" in the Javelin and a time of 5:10.16 in the 1500m Run.

Men's and women's Hammer Throw also took place on Thursday, as three Builder men and three Builder women took part in the festivities. On the men's side, Jaylen Spencer finished as the top of the Moundbuilder men's throwers, tossing his best distance of 116'10" on his second attempt. He finished in 21^st place with the effort. Trevor Peterson came in one spot behind Spencer in 22^nd place with a launch of 109'10". Then, Matt Pryce completed a toss of 58'11" to finish 25^th. On the women's side, Ketura Earl paced SC with an 18^th-place finish. She managed a 117'11" throw on her first try. Paiden Bell came in 27^th with a throw of 102'6" on her second attempt. Then, Vanessa Mendoza launched 79'9" on her second try to finish 36^th.

Pole Vault took place on Friday, as Kloie Simons was the lone Builder to compete in the event. She reached her highest mark of the day at 9'3.5" on her first try, but could not quite clear the mark of 9'9.25" on three attempts. She finished 13^th in the competition.

Gabby Murchison showed her prowess in the Javelin throw, as she managed to finish in sixth place among a group of 25 throwers. She converted a distance of 96'7" on her third of six tries. Another Builder women's athlete checked in the top 10 of the finishers in the event, as Lucy Daniel also threw her best distance in her third try, reaching a distance of 92'11" for a 10^th-place tally. Peterson was a competitor in the men's Javelin, as well, as he threw his longest toss on the second-to-last attempt a distance of 128'2".

Rachel Booker had her first appearance of the weekend in the Long Jump for the women, as she registered a jump of 15'6.5" in her second leap of the day. She then passed on her final try and finished 30^th overall.

On Saturday, Daniel competed in women's Discus, managing to reach a mark of 64'7" to finish in 48^th place. Three different Southwestern men participated in the Discus competition, as well, as Peterson led the charge with a 27^th-place finish. He launched 108'2" in his first try. Isaac Swanson (52^nd, 64'3") and Pryce (53^rd, 59'5") rounded out the list of Builders competing in the Discus.

Spencer (32^nd, 34'11") and Swanson (38^th, 27'4") were competitors in the men's Shot Put competition, and the trio of Bell (31^st, 32'4.5"), Earl (41^st, 28'6.25") and Mendoza (46^th, 25'3.5") competed for the Moundbuilder women.

Meliah Hanna managed to finish in 11^th place out of 27 participants in the women's High Jump. She leapt 4'9.75" on her first attempt to do so.

Tutu Nyamakope participated in the men's Triple Jump, landing a distance of 37'10.75" down the sand pit. He ended up in 20^th place overall.

The most impressive finish yet went to the Moundbuilder women's 4x100m Relay squad, consisting of Lily Blankenship, Booker, Kyah Hill and Lauryn Terry. They managed a time of 48.64 seconds and finished third out of eight squads. They finished behind only NCAA DII Northwestern Oklahoma State and perennial powerhouse University of Saint Mary (Kan.).

Kirstin Hackney managed to finish in 17^th place in the women's 1500m Run, clocking in at 5:18.81 in the race. The Builders also had six harriers in the men's side of the competition. Austin Schaeffer paced SC with a time of 4:12.43, making him the 30^th-place finisher. Mason Blochowiak clocked in at 4:26.08, finishing 62^nd, while Meseret Elgin came in 65^th with a time of 4:28.72. Luis Bellor-Gardner (71^st, 4:30.53) and Jacob Baer (75^th, 4:36.38) were the next two Moundbuilders to finish. Jamell Sanchez finished 87^th with a time of 4:55.20 to round out the list of Southwestern athletes in the event.

Southwestern women's hurdler, Kentayshija Pruitt finished in 21^st place in the 100m Hurdles with a time of 16.62. She was the lone women's participant for SC. Hayden Boydston clocked in a 19.92 time in the men's 110m Hurdles as the only Builder men's athlete in the event.

Booker ended up finishing in 22^nd place in the 100m Dash, managing a time of 12.71 seconds. On the men's side, four Builders raced in the 100m Dash, as Keyshawn Jones' time of 11 seconds flat put him in 27^th place and was an improvement upon his winning time at last weekend's SC Jinx Invite. Nick Jones came in 41^st place with a clip of 11.19 seconds, while Nyamakope clocked in at 11.72 in 75^th place. Finally, Isaiah Spears came in 101^st place with a time of 12.28 seconds.

Terry's 32^nd-place time of 1:03.50 in the women's 400m Dash was the only SC women's time in the event. The men provided a trio of participants, as Antwone Crawford (55^th, 52.81), Andrez Ramirez (72^nd, 55.03) and Kyle Richardson (83^rd, 1:05.79) were on the track.

Hackney (10^th, 2:27.07), Kacie Lancaster (19^th, 2:33.12) and Anzhelany Jordan (37^th, 2:47.43) competed in the 800m Run for the Builders, as they each ran at impressive clips. All three times were season-bests in the outdoor campaign. Schaeffer (27^th, 2:00.30) and Tyshawn Brownfield (28^th, 2:00.43) paced SC in the men's portion of the 800m, as Gabe Vannucchi (60^th, 2:07.94), Elgin (67^th, 2:11.77) and Baer (72^nd, 2:15.88) rounded out the list of Southwestern competitors.

Pruitt's 400m Hurdles time of 1:09,85 was good enough to place her 11^th overall, as Boydston managed a 1:01.07 time on the men's side to finish in 14^th.

Terry was on fire in the women's 200m Dash, as she finished 19^th, one spot ahead of Booker in 20^th. They registered times of 25.91 and 25.98, respectively, to lead the Builders. Hanna also raced to a time of 26.18, which made her the 28^th-place finisher. Ramirez's time of 24.14 in the men's 200m was good for 90^th place.

Maliki Pope would run the 5000m for the Moundbuilder men, as he finished in 36^th place with a clip of 16:28.41.

Overall, the teams continued to improve themselves as they move forward in their seasons. The two squads will be in Wichita again next weekend, as they compete at Wichita State University at the KT Woodman Classic. That will be another three-day event and will run from Apr. 6-8.

--buildersports.com--