PITTSBURG, Kansas—Day one of the 2017 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships at the Robert W. Plaster Center on the campus of Pittsburg State University saw the Texans and Lady Texans put themselves in contention for national gold on Friday.

Freshman Laquan Nairn soared his way to a first place finish in the men's long jump as the Bahamas native jumped 24' 11.75". South Plains' Derrick Monroe wasn't far behind as the sophomore from Yuma, Arizona placed third overall with a final mark of 24' 05.75". Saahir Bethea also earned a top 10 finish as the Elkins Park, Pennsylvania native placed sixth with a jump of 24' 01.50".

South Plains' distance medley relay team comprised of Felix Kosgei, Montel Hood, Omero Rodriguez and Nicholas Rotich placed second after crossing the finish line at the 10:10.37 mark. The Lady Texans distance medley relay team also placed inside the to five as Poro Gahekave, Natassha McDonald, Latriceia Smith and Seselia Dala placed third with a final time of 12:08.72.

In the women's 5000-meter run, freshman Leslie Romero placed fourth as the Houston native posted a final time of 18:10.97. The Texans placed three runners inside the top 15 in the men's 5000-meter run as Deric Martinez placed seventh with a final time of 15:13.44, while Jose Silva and Connor Hughes placed 12th and 13th overall with times of 15:27.47 and 15:33.56, respectively.

The Texans' Kwaume McGee and Robert Dunning launched their way into the top 10 in the men's high jump. McGree placed third with a mark of 7' 0.50" while Dunning took seventh with a final jump of 6.08' 0.75".

The Lady Texans placed three athletes inside the top 10 in the women's long jump as Cha'Kayli Gilbert earned fourth place honors with a final mark of 18' 10.75". Felicia Frimpong took eighth with a jump of 18' 6.50" and Melody Korie placed 10th with a final mark of 18' 1.50". 

**This story will continue to be updated as results become available

Live results can be found at the following link: https://trackmeet.io/meets/149/sessions/52