May 17, 2015

EL PASO--North Texas men place sixth, women tenth at the 2015 C-USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The men's team earned a total of 53.50 points, and the women's team finished with 35 points overall.

Field event athletes carried the teams to their victories, as athletes on both the men's and women's sides had strong finishes. Junior Derek Richard placed second in the men's pole vault (5.01m), and freshman Benjamin Brokenshire (4.76m) placed fifth. In yesterday's competitions, senior Jessica McNew also placed fifth in the women's pole vault.

Shahaf Bareni placed third in the women's high jump with a 1.71m jump. Eddie Wilcox also placed third in the men's high jump on Saturday with a 2.03m jump. Deja McKnight got third in the women's shot put teammate Tori Clark finished in seventh. Deja McKnight also placed sixth in the women's hammer throw on Friday. Sophomore Jazmine Martin placed fifth in triple jump (12.65m) on Sunday. Ngozi Nweke took eighth in the women's discus throw Saturday. Andrew Smith placed ninth in the men's discus throw with a 47.18m throw. He also placed 11th in the hammer throw competition with a 49.69m throw.

North Texas distance also had some big finishes on both sides. On the women's side, junior Magdalena Escobar finished fifth in the 1500-meter run(4:46.78), and freshman Christina Moralez finished ninth (4:49.09). Shauna Pali placed sixth in the women's 10,000-meter run on Friday. Victoria Junious finished eighth in the 800-meter run.

On the men's side, Alex Hita finished sixth, Zach Kirkland seventh, and Bryce McAndrew eighth in the 800m. Troy Taylor placed third in the 1500-meter run with a time of 3:48.02, and Bryce McAndrew finished fifth. On Saturday, Alejandro Valencia placed seventh in the men's steeplechase. On Friday, Mike Lowe took seventh in the men's 10,000-meter run (33:27.55). Cody Campbell (34:05.55) and Grady Frazier (34.05.59) finished close behind in 11th and 12th place.

The men's sprinting team also heavily contributed to their sixth-place overall finish. Junior Kedron Sowells placed eighth 100m dash and sophomore Collin Heard fifth 200m (21.14). Freshman Lafiel Smith finished sixth in the men's 400-meter hurdles.

The men's 4X100-meter relay placed sixth thanks to the team of Kedron Sowells, Collin Heard, Caleb Pryor, and Connor Bey (40.86). The men's 4X400-meter relay finished fourth, with Connor Bey, Caleb Pryor, Jamal Marshall, and Collin Heard (3:09.01).

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