HOBBS — The South Plains College men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up action at the Ross Black Invitational at the Ross Black Field of Champions on Friday, bringing home six event titles.

Due to frigid temperatures and deteriorating weather, South Plains did not compete on Saturday.

"I thought we handled the weather well on Friday and competed hard despite some challenging conditions," South Plains head coach Erik Vance said. "Both the men and women's side did some good things, and our throwers did well and our 10k runners competed hard and got qualified. More than anything I was pleased with how we handled the conditions and didn't let it affect us for the most part."

Freshman Scott Frazier won the men's pole vault for the Texans after clearing 13' 11.25" on the second attempt of his first bar. Sophomore All-American Asani Hylton took second in the pole vault Friday, clearing 11' 11.75in his first vault appearance of the outdoor season. In the men's hammer throw, South Plains freshman Bryce Spencer placed second with a throw of 131' 5".

"Scott and Asani did a good job in the vault and had a solid outing," Vance said. "We're in a position right now where clearing bars is important, but we're trying to clear some really high bars, and Friday that was challenging with the conditions, and that's one area where they can really affect you. Overall, though, we did a good job all around and had a good regular season meet."

Sophomore Riley Finnegan won the men's discus for South Plains with a mark of 155' 9", while Spencer earned a third-place finish with a throw of 148' 3". Sophomore jump specialist Holland Martin won the men's long jump and recorded a personal best, soaring 25' 11". Denvaughn Whymns and D'Juan Martin went 2-3 in the long jump for South Plains, as Whymns turned in a jump of 23' 10.75", while Martin went 23' 8.75".

"Holland is a big part of what we are doing and will play a big part in the type of success we have come the national meet," Vance said. "He did really good in both jumps and it was nice to see him hit that big one. That was definitely good for him and he was out there motivating his teammates and get them going, and they were out there having fun."

South Plains' Ruth Usoro notched a third-place finish in the women's long jump for the Lady Texans, jumping 19' 11" on her third jump of the afternoon. South Plains went 1-2 in the men's 10000 meters as sophomore Andrew Bosquez was the first runner across the line in 32:34.54, while freshman Alex Kitum took second in 33:00.76.

The Lady Texans won the women's 10000 meters as freshman Gladys Jemaiyo took the top spot with a time of 35:40.46. In the men's 200 meter prelims, freshmen AJ Pemberton and Adrese Atkins placed first and second for South Plains, as Pemberton ran a 21.50, while Atkins turned in a 21.65. Pemberton also won the men's 100-meter prelims in 10.70, while Atkins took third in 10.77.

Sophomore Filmon Beyene won the men's 5000 meters for the Texans, clocking a 15:51.91. In the women's 5000 meter finals, freshman Angela Rodriguez took fifth in a time of 19:54.75. The Texans placed a pair of hurdlers in the top three of the men's 110-meter hurdle prelims as Deion Lightfoot won in 14.53. while Decoven Young took third in 15.37.

"I think our teams are coming together and doing some things we want to see at this point in the year," Vance said. "We're moving forward and making improvements, and over the next few weeks we want to see both teams keep working hard to improve before we head to the national meet."

Full results: http://results.tfmeetpro.com/Dennis_Weber/NMJC_Ross_Black_Open/results_31.html#round_1

Photos: https://spctexans.smugmug.com/2019-Ross-Black-Invitational