LUBBOCK — The South Plains College men's and women's track and field teams made the most of their final meet before indoor nationals, capturing nine event titles Friday at the Jarvis Scott Open at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center.
South Plains will be off next weekend before traveling to Pittsburg, KS for the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships March 4-5.
Thomas Nieto highlighted the day for South Plains as the sophomore set a new school record and a new PR in the men's pole vault, shattering the previous school record of 17' 1" with a clearance of 17' 5". A week after earning national athlete of the week honors, freshman phenom Kudakwashe Chadenga placed first in the men's high jump, clearing the bar at 7' 2.25".
"Kudawashe didn't have as good of a day as he has in the last few weeks and had some struggles," South Plains head coach Erik Vance said. "He wanted to jump and work through some issues and figured some things out and hit another good mark.
"Thomas had a really good year for us last year and was the national runner-up in both indoors and outdoors. He showed some promise of what we thought he could do towards the end of the outdoor season. He came back and hit the ground running, but had a few struggles early on. He had a good week last week and set himself up to go off this week. He put on a show today and won a good field."
In the women's 1000 meters, Cemore Donald took first in a time of 3:16.52, while Janeil Jones was second in a time of 3:17.27. Aron Tanui and Chevonne Hall went one-two in the men's 1000 meters, as Tanui placed first in a time of 2:27.09, while Hall was second in 2:29.48.
In the women's long jump, freshman Joniar Thomas took first, soaring 19' 9". Sophomore All-American Mehdi Yanouri placed first in the men's mile run, crossing the line in 4:15.94. Freshman Justin Guy was the first runner across the line in the men's 60-meter hurdles, posting a final time of 7.92. Donroy Brown turned in a fourth place finish in the men's shot put with a throw of 52' 2".
In the women's 800 meters, freshman Camille Lewis placed first for South Plains, crossing the line in 2:16.84. Dejah Fuller notched a third place finish in the women's triple jump, turning in a final mark of 38' 7". The Lady Texans closed out the meet with a first place finish in the women's 4x400 relay, as Success Umukoro, Jamelia Simmons, Anna-Kay Allen, and Amaya Phillips ran a 3:45.76.
"The one main thing we wanted to accomplish today was to put our women's 4x400 team in the fast heat at the national meet," Vance said. "We want to be on the track in the last event and be able to dictate our future. We thought if we could set them up correctly they could do well, and they went out today and posted the second-best time in junior college.
"I was really happy with what Camille Lewis did in the 800, and Dejah Fuller did well in the triple jump and figured some things out and set herself up to have a good national meet. Joniar went out and jumped well and has a chance to go out and do well at nationals."