SAN ANGELO — The South Plains College men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up the Angelo State David Noble Relays Saturday, capping their third outdoor meet of the season with 10 event titles at LeGrand Stadium.

"We have a talented group of kids, and this meet is one we usually see some success out of," South Plains head coach Erik Vance said. "Our group went out and competed hard and set themselves up to be successful throughout the rest of the outdoor season. When we had good competition to run against, we ran well and seemed like our team really challenged themselves."

Keontae Gaines kicked off the meet with a first place finish in the men's 100 meters, crossing the line in 10.45. Freshman Hossam Hatib followed up with a top finish in the men's 200 meters, posting a 21.20. Jeremy Bembridge was second in the 200 in 21.28.

The Texans would then go one-two-three-four in the men's 800 meters as Kimar Farquharson was first in 1:46.88, while Aron Tanui was second in 1:48.76. Mehdi Yanouri placed third in 1:48.88, while Dwight Mason was fourth in 1:53.21. In the men's 400 hurdles, Chris Robinson posted the top time in 50.96, while Caio Almeida was second in 52.06.

"Coach Miller and coach Barker do a really good job with our workouts and getting our athletes prepared," Vance said. "We also emphasize the importance of competition reps to them. We see some take it more seriously than others, but the more reps you can get against quality competition the better."  

In the men's 3000 steeplechase, freshman Zachary McPhee turned in a final time of 9:44.27, placing first overall. In the men's high jump, indoor national champion Kudakwashe Chadenga placed first with a clearance of 7' 1". Men's indoor pole vault national champion Thomas Nieto would then take first for South Plains in the vault, clearing the bar at 16' 5.25".

On the women's side, Camile Lewis notched a first place finish in the 400 meters, crossing the line in 56.23. Amaya Brown tallied the second event title for the Lady Texans in the women's high jump, clearing the bar at 5' 6.5". In the women's discus, Kimola Hines was second with a throw of 144' 3".

In the women's 100 hurdles, Savage Ashyiria placed third with a time of 14.36. The Lady Texans went two-three in the women's 400 hurdles, as Shenell Tucker was second in 1:00.78, while Amaya Phillips placed third in 1:01.60. The Lady Texans posted a second place finish in the 4x100 relay as Savage, Xazari Naylor, Joniar Thomas, and Umukoro clocked a 46.44. Thomas also placed second in the women's heptathlon, totaling 5256 points.

"Kimola Hines continues to throw well in the discus, and Amaya Brown won another high jump competition, and that's two for her outdoors," Vance said. "Every time Amaya goes out and jumps, it seems like she either has a PR or takes a good shot at it. We have to give credit to Savage who ran a big PR in the 100 hurdles and hit a national qualifying mark and is closer to that scoring position."

In the women's 200 meters, freshman All-American Success Umukoro placed second with a time of 24.07. Jeniel Jones turned in a fifth place finish in the women's 800 meters in 2:23.64, which she followed up with a second place finish in the 1500 meters in 5:08.63. Esmeralda Espinoza was sixth in the 1500 meters in 5:24.25.

"We have had some ups and downs, but I don't think we have let any of our success go to our heads," Vance said. "We have to remember nobody is going to hand anything to us, and we have to continue to work. I looked at results last night when we got home, and there are some teams running fast. We're going to have to continue to push ourselves and stay hungry and keep working."

South Plains will be back on the road next weekend when they travel to the North Texas Classic on April 9, followed by a trip to the NMJC Ross Black Invitational on April 22.