By: Emilie Jenson
Public Information Coordinator
The Iowa Central Track and Field team traveled to Abilene, TX to compete in the Wes Kittley Invitational March 15-16.
"It was rainy, windy and colder than we were expecting when we scheduled a meet in Texas, but you wouldn't know the conditions weren't great by the way our team competed," said Anne Cleary, head track and field coach.
Individual champions for the Tritons were Tina Samson in the women's long jump with a jump of 5.61 meters, Stephen Sydnor in the men's long jump with 7.38 meters, and Bongumusa Nkosi in the men's 400-meter run with a time of 47.64 seconds and the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.90 seconds. Nkosi's times were the seventh and eighth all-time Triton best, respectively, and Sydnor's jump was the 10th all-time best.
Jed Elmbarki took second in the men's 1500-meter run with a time of 3:56.54, followed by teammate Jadon boots in third place with 3:59.45.
Youssef Hamed took third in the men's 100-meter dash in 10.50 seconds and Jeremy Brown finished third in the men's Triple Jump.
Fifth place finishers included Hamed in the 200-meter dash with the eighth all time Triton best time of 21.68 seconds, and Joseph Asahi Wright in the men's 1500-meter run.
The men's 4x400 relay team finished in sixth place, Peyton Sanders took ninth in the men's long jump and Seth Cheney finished 10th in the men's 5000-meter run.
For the Triton women, Tina Samson finished sixth in the women's javelin while recording the second all time best for the team. Zuriya Robinson finished sixth in the women's hammer throw and Abigail Frey was sixth in the women's 400-meter hurdles.
Sara Diew finished in eighth place in the women's discuss and Rowland Kirton-Browne finished ninth in the women's javelin. Frey came in ninth in the women's 100-meter hurdles.
National qualifiers included Tina Samon in the javelin, Jed Elmbarki in the 1500- and 800-meter runs, Youssef Hamed in the men's 100-meter dash, Bongumusa Nkosi in the men's 200 and 400 meters, and Stephen Sydnor in the long jump.
"The multiple national qualifiers, top ten All-Time marks and PRs made for a very exciting two days," Cleary said. "If this meet is any indication of how our season is going to go it's going to be a very fun rest of the spring."