ABILENE, TX — Members of the Southwestern Assemblies of God University track team competed in separate meets this weekend. Winston Griffith was a participant in the TAMU-Kingsville Cactus Cup Decathlon, while the others competed in Abilene at the McMurry Warhawk Classic.
The weekend was led by three individuals who set school records, 16 personal records and one NAIA National Outdoor Championships “A” Standard qualifier. At the Warhawk Classic, the men’s team accumulated 37 points, which was good enough to tie with Ranger College for 6th place out of 14 teams.
The women’s team traveled three to McMurry and all had a good outing. Gabriella Anato, the most recent Sooner Athletic Conference Field Athlete of the Week, competed in three throwing events — Discus, Hammer, and Javelin; Anato was a top-four finisher in all three events.
Alyssa Robinson set a personal record in the Discus Throw, which continues her streak of personal records in every meet.
Down south, Winston Griffith made another attempt at the decathlon. In his first attempt at the OBU Invite just three weeks ago, Griffith scored 5,594, which is 6 points shy of the NAIA “A” Standard of 5,600 points. However, this time Griffith would not be denied, and qualified for the National Championships. Griffith accumulated 5,929 points across the ten events and currently sits 7th in the nation (NAIA).
The Lions were led by the team of Nicholas Henderson, Dylan Alford, Charles Pulliam III, and Josh Allen who finished 1st in the 4×100 with the time of 42.40 seconds.
Joshua Allen finished 7th in the 100-meter with a time of 10.99. In the 200-meter, Nicholas Henderson finished 8th (22.49s) and Charles Pulliam finished 9th (22.73). Samuel Molina had a top 5 finish in the 400-meters with a time of 50.69 (5th place)
In the 800-meter, Arturo Valdez finished 9th with a time of 2:05.35. Charles Pulliam (4th) and Colton Thurman (5th) both finished top 5 in the 110-meter hurdles; and Tyvon Gates broke his own Long Jump school record with a jump of 6.36m to go along with a 6th place finish.
In his debut, Shawntay Owens finished 4th and broke the school record in Shot Put with the throw of 13.31m.
In women’s action, Mahogani Collins finished 10th in the 200-meter with a time of 28.56s and 7th in the 400-meter with a time of 1:05.98s (personal best)
Gabriella Anato placed 3rd in the Hammer Throw (33.36m) and Discuss (34.07m), while finishing 4th in the Javelin Throw (24.35m)
The Lions will compete in Abilene at Abilene Christian University on Wednesday.
