BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The W’s track and field teams set eight school records over the weekend at the CrossPlex during the Samford University Open on Saturday and the KMS Invitational on Sunday.
Most of the records were set by the men’s team, highlighted by the 60-meter hurdles. Three Owls — Allen Fields, Mikendall Morris, and Cortland Earl — now occupy the Nos. 2-4 spots on the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) performance list for the event. Morris ran an 8.96-second hurdle race Saturday, but Fields reclaimed the record Sunday with an 8.87-second preliminary run. Fields finished seventh in the finals with a time of 9.01 seconds.
Freshman Malachi Morgan made a strong showing in the field events, recording the school’s top marks in the long jump and high jump at the Samford Open. Morgan leaped 6.58 meters in the long jump and cleared 1.89 meters in the high jump. He also contributed to the Owls’ school record in the 4×200-meter relay on Sunday, running the lead leg in a time of 1:33.44 along with teammates Bryson Moler, Cortland Earl, and Kobe Smith.
In addition, sophomore Jarvis Sellers, last week’s SLIAC track Player of the Week, broke the school record in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:27.21, finishing sixth. The men’s weight throw also saw new standards, with James Nesby surpassing his previous best of 9.52 meters on Saturday and improving to 10.27 meters on Sunday, ranking eighth in the SLIAC.
On the women’s side, freshman Cassidy Talley set multiple SLIAC top marks during the Samford Open. Her 8.35-second time in the 60-meter dash ranks fourth in the conference, and her 28.80 in the 200 meters is sixth. She also led the 4×400-meter relay team, which posted the top SLIAC time so far.
At the KMS Invitational, Armoni King recorded the fifth-fastest 200-meter time in the conference at 28.23 seconds. Additionally, Re’Niyah Irving and Kamiyah Lofton posted 60-meter hurdle times of 10.29 and 10.24 seconds, respectively, placing fourth and fifth in the SLIAC. In field events, Ariella Jones marked the conference’s fourth-best efforts in both the triple jump (10.32 meters) and long jump (4.85 meters). Makayla Given and CeCe Cowan registered the SLIAC’s fourth and fifth-best shot put marks, respectively, with throws of 9.64 and 9.51 meters.
