Senior sprinter Elijah Hall broke his own school record in the 200m, running the third fastest time in the world in the process. | File photo/The Cougar
Senior sprinter Elijah Hall left his mark on the track & field world Saturday as he broke his own school record while simultaneously running the fifth fastest time in the world.
Competing in the Charlie Thomas Invitational at Texas A&M, Hall won the men’s 200m dash with a time of 20.51s. His time, a meet record, broke his own personal best and school record time of 20.71s. His time is No. 5 in the world and No. 4 in the NCAA.
Two times are better than Hall’s after adjustment due to elevation. Three times overall are better than Hall’s in the NCAA. Overall, Hall’s performance was one of three event wins and eight personal bests set at the meet.
Junior sprinter Jacarias Martin was the runner up in the 200m, running a personal best 21.23s. His time, second only to Hall on the day, is currently No. 39 in the NCAA.
This weekend marked a return to the track for junior sprinter Kahmari Montgomery after a week of rest. After opening his season with the fourth fastest 400m time in school history, 46.83s, Montgomery improved his time to 46.28s, again winning the men’s 400m final.
His time on Saturday is the third fastest time in school history and moved Montgomery up to No. 10 in the country in the 400m.
Senior distance runner Maddie Brown was the only champion for the women over the weekend. Running in the women’s 5000m on Friday, Brown won the race with a time of 16 minutes, 53.99s. Her time shaved 30 seconds off of her personal best and is the second best in school history, four hundredths of a second short of the record itself.
Sophomore Samiyah Samuels returned to the women’s long jump after matching her personal best of 6.08m last week. Samuels again earned a runners up medal, but she did improve her season and personal best with a mark of 6.15m, currently No. 19 in the nation.
Senior jumpers Antwan Dickerson and Jared Kerr both had personal bests in the long jump and triple jump respectively. Dickerson had a best mark of 7.51m in the long jump, and Kerr had a high mark of 14.94m in the triple jump; both marks earned a silver medal.
Kerr also placed third in the long jump with a mark of 7.27m.
Junior mid distance runner Cameron Laverty rounded out the day with a personal best time of one minute, 50.77s in the 800m, finishing third.
In the five meet competition the men placed second in points, scoring 96.83 against the Texas A&M Aggies’ 127.5.
This weekend the track & field team will be split as they are sent to two different meets. The distance runners will head to Seattle to compete in the Husky Classic, hosted by the No. 20 Washington Huskies. Everyone else will go to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to compete in the Tyson Invitational, hosted by the No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks.
