The Cougars’ future in track and field looks bright after underclassmen had another great day at The Bayou City Classic on Saturday at Yeoman Field House.
Freshman sprinter Kalyn Floyd, who is usually a 60- or 200-meter runner, made her collegiate debut in the 400-meter dash, finishing second in 57.65 seconds.
A hamstring injury has kept Floyd out of previous meets, so at this meet she just wanted to do her best.
"I wanted to go out there and have confidence," Floyd said. "It was my first meet, and I am a freshman and just tried to not get last.
"It helped my confidence. I placed second overall and I am in my first meet. I had been thinking about it all week – I did good."
Several other Cougars also performed well at the meet.
In the women’s 60-meter dash, junior Seun Adigun added to her impressive record with a second place finish in 7.6 seconds. Freshman Christi Jones competed in the same race and came away with fourth, finishing in 7.63 seconds.
In the women’s weight throw, sophomore Ashley Bryant took third with a throw of 16.01 meters (52 feet, 6 1/2 inches).
In the pole vault, freshman Shannan Arnold set a personal best of 3.40 meters (11-1 3/4) for seventh place.
On the men’s side, senior Tremaine Smith clocked the second fastest time in Conference USA as he tied for second with 6.83 seconds in the 60-meter dash.
Many Cougars improved on their personal bests at the meet. Freshman weight thrower William Krokey had a toss of 14.94 meters (49-1/2). The throw is the ninth best in the conference and an improvement of his previous best of 14.63 meters (48).
Another freshman, thrower Sidney Flores, who competed in the shot put, exceeded his personal best with a throw of 14.17 meters (46-6).
The runners on the team had a good meet as well. Finishing in sixth place with 16:20.48, sophomore Antony Keller improved on his personal best of 16:31.42 in the 5,000-meter run. The new time is the sixth fastest in the conference this season.
The track team will next compete in the Tyson Invitational at 8 p.m. Friday in Fayetteville, Ark. With the steady improvements, the newcomers are putting the Cougars in great shape to make heads turn in the C-USA Indoor Championship on Feb. 29.
