Texan Mosaic

by JOSHUA RAMIREZ/Sports Editor

The South Plains College men’s and women’s track teams proved they were a championship-caliber team against elite competition at their most recent meet.

SPC traveled to Norman, Oklahoma to compete in the John Jacobs Invitational on April 22.

Despite being one of the few community colleges competing in the event, SPC showed that they were a force to be reckoned with, posting numerous top-five finishes and national qualifying marks at the meet.

DeVante Lacey and Fabian Edoki each racked up first-place finishes for the Texans in their respective events.

Lacey placed first in the 400 meters with a time of  46.50, while Edoki placed first in the long jump with a leap of 24-11.25.

Adrian Williams placed second in the javelin and set a school record with a throw of 223-9 setting a school record.

Texans Robert Dunning, Okeen Williams and Kelvin Keter also posted top-five finishes at the meet.

Dunning competed in the 110-meter hurdles, placing second overall with a time of 14.01. Williams’ time of 52.02 in the 400-meter hurdles was good enough for second.

The SPC women posted multiple national-qualifying marks with top-10 performances across the board.

Mauricia Prieto, Medinah Spencer, Poro Gahekave, Taylor Hill, Melody Korie, Anyi Garcias-Solis, Felicia Frimpong, and Kinonna Bradshaw all posted national-qualifying marks for the Lady Texans with performances in their respective competitions.

Prieto finished the day with two national-qualifying marks, placing fifth in the woman’s 200 meters with a time of 24.27 and finishing sixth in the 400 meters with a time of 55.57.

Spencer’s national mark came with her performance in the 400 hurdles, after posting a time of 1:00.58 and placing third overall.

Gahekave earned her mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing sixth with a time of 12:05.92. Hill’s mark of 12.07 in the 100 meters was good enough to land her a national-qualifying mark after she finished seventh overall.

Korie soared her way to a national mark with her performance in the long jump. She placed fifth with a distance of 18-8.

Garcias-Solis earned a second national mark in the jumping events for SPC, with a leap of 37-9.5 in the triple jump. Frimpong competed alongside Garcias-Solis in the triple jump, leaping a distance of 37-1.75.

Bradshaw was able to rack up one last mark in the shot put with a throw of 46-6.25, finishing sixth overall.

The track and field teams will continue preparing for the NJCAA Outdoor National Championships, which will be held on their home turf on May 17- May 19.