LUBBOCK — The South Plains College track and field teams wrapped up their second meet of the season Friday, competing at the Red Raider Open at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center.

Esmeralda Espinoza got things rolling for South Plains with a fourth place finish in the women's 3000 meters, crossing the line in 11:54.67. Caio Almeida took third in the men's section b 400 meters, posting a 48.43, while Shevoie Reid was sixth, clocking a 48.64.

All-American Mehdi Yanouri placed second in the men's mile run, turning in a time of 4:18.16, while Aron Tanui was sixth in the mile with a time of 4:21.32. In the men's 400 meters section a, Chris Robinson ran a 47.11, good enough for eighth place. In the men's pole vault, Thomas Nieto cleared 16' 4", good enough for seventh place.

"I don't know what Mehdi is capable of doing in the long term, because they are still in a heavy training block," South Plains head coach Erik Vance said. "That man ran three races today all based on training for the future, and for him to do what he did on tired legs is pretty impressive."

In the women's 200 meters, Success Umukoro placed fourth in a time of 24.57, while Keonte Gaines was third in the men's 200 meters in 21.61. Kimar Farquharson placed second in the men's 600-yard run, posting a 1:09.33. Evaldo Whitehorne was fifth in the 600-yard run, crossing the line in 1:10.25.

Kudakwashe Chadenga placed fourth in the men's high jump for South Plains, clearing 6' 10.75". In the women's triple jump, Dejah Fuller posted the top mark in the NJCAA this season, soaring 38' 10.5" to take eighth. Zachary McPhee placed second in the men's 3000 meters, crossing the line in 8:42.78.

"I was really happy with what Dejee did today," Vance said. "She put down the number one mark in Juco, and she put in a great fall and put in a lot of work. She is the leader of that jump squad day in and day out, and I was really happy with her fight and how she is figuring things out."  

South Plains closed out the meet with a fifth place finish in the men's 4x400, as Robinson, Hossam Hatib, Whitehorne, and Farquharson clocked a 3:08.44.

"I kind of had a picture of what I thought we have, and I'm really happy with the new kids we got at the semester," Vance said. "They have jumped in and embraced what we do and got after it. They add a lot to our squad as a whole, and this is a fun group of kids to coach and I'm elicited about where this season could go"