Texans capture national championship

by Caroline Basile, sports editor

The South Plains College men’s track and field squad took home the title at the NJCAA National Indoor Track and Field championship recently at Texas Tech University.

The men’s team placed first with 148.5 points, easily outscoring Rend Lake (Ill.) College, which finished a distant second with 72 points.

Texan John Kosgei captured three national championships, finishing first in the one-mile run in a time of 4:10.35, in the men's 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:23.73, and in the men's 5,000-meter run in 14:37.46.

“It was a pretty good weekend,” said Blaine Wiley, assistant track and field coach at SPC. “It was a little bit more than we expected. We thought we would be in the top three in both and ended up winning the men’s, and that was amazing. The girls did so well with such a small group. It was a tribute to their hard work. It was a good weekend.”

Among others winning national titles for South Plains was Patrick Lee, who placed first in the 60-meter hurdles in 7.94 seconds. Derrick Taylor placed first in the pole vault with a jump of 15 feet, 1 1/2 inches, and he finished fourth in the pentathlon with 3,478 points.

Also crowned as national champions were Derrick Reescano, who won the triple jump with a leap of 49 feet, 10 inches, and Tyler Menges, who placed first in the men's shot put (53 feet, 1 3/4 inches).

In addition to the four national titles, the men’s squad finished strong in the men's long jump. Reescano placed second with a jump of 23 feet, nine inches, and Aaron Smith III was fifth with a jump of 23 feet, 3 1/4 inches.

“Winning a national championship is the ultimate goal,” Wiley said. “So far, I’d say we’re doing pretty good. The work isn’t done though. We want to win outdoor and have a strong finish with both teams, so we still have work to do. We will be enjoying this for a little while and then getting back to work.”

In the 600-meter run, Harold Jackson finished second with a time of 1:18.02, while Chris Jones was second in the 800-meter run in 1:53.53. Also, in the triple jump, O'Brian Coles was second at 49 feet, 1 1/2 inches, and Smith was sixth (47 feet, 6 1/2 inches).

In the 4x400-meter relay, the SPC men’s team finished second with a time of 3:12.97. In the distance medley, the Texans placed fourth with a time of 11:14.55.

Darrell Roddick placed fourth in the high jump, with a leap of 6 feet, 10 3/4 inches, Marlon Smith finished sixth in 6 feet, 8 3/4 inches, and Kendrick Poullard was seventh with 6 feet, 8 3/4 inches.

In the pole vault, Bradley Tatum finished sixth, clearing 14 feet, 1 3/4 inches. In the 5,000-meter run, Josphat Melly was seventh in 15:47.03, and in the 3,000-meter run, Jay Wilson finished seventh with a time of 2:35.47.

In the 4x800-meter relay, the Texans team placed seventh in a time of 8:00.69.

And in the one mile run, Melly finished 11th in 4:26.57. He also placed 12th in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:14.39.

Also, in the weight throw, Chris Johnson placed 13th with a toss of 48 feet, 4 3/4 inches.

The Lady Texans placed second at the meet with 102.5 points, behind first-place Essex College, which finished with 138.

The SPC women’s team ended the meet with three national championships.

Asiya Iskakova placed first in the women's pentathlon with 3,562 points, and she also placed first in the triple jump with with a leap of 40 feet. Also, Dominique Jacobs finished first in the women's long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 7 inches.

“I think the meet went really well,” Jacobs said. “The girls, even though we had 11 girls, we really performed well. It was the quality in us that did so well to come in second place. And the boys did really well coming in first.”

Danete Wright placed second in the pentathlon with 3,361 points. Renee Shepard finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.42, while October Wells was fourth in a time of 24.99.

In the triple jump, Jacobs finished second with a leap of 39 feet, 10 1/2 inches, and Karen Thomas was fourth (38 feet, 6 3/4 inches).

“Coach Wiley asked me today how it felt to be a national champion,” Jacobs said. “And I said, ‘It hasn’t even kicked in yet. I really haven’t felt it yet, but it’s coming slowly.’ I’m just really excited.”

Iskakova finished second in the long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 7 inches. She also placed fifth in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 3 inches. Wright finished sixth (5 feet, 1 inch), while Shepard finished fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.23. Also, in the 5,000-meter run, Lillian Badaru finished third in 17:59.18.

In the 400-meter dash, Crystal Wilson finished fifth in a time of 58.00, and Alba Knight placed eighth in 59.26. In the 60-meter hurdles, Wright was fifth in a time of 9.05.

The SPC team finished third in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:54.63.

Reescano and Iskakova were both named Outstanding Field Event Athletes of the Meet.          

“Coach Beene and I are both pleased with the teams’ efforts,” Wiley said. “Not only did they compete hard, but they acted with class and dignity. We were very proud to represent South Plains College over there in front of a local community.”