Track and field split competition this weekend between Clemson and Vanderbilt, setting multiple school records and earning event victories to close out the indoor regular season.
KSU competed at the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson University and the Music City Challenge at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Chance Cross delivered one of the top performances of the weekend at Clemson, winning the 60 meters in a school-record time of 6.54 seconds, marking fourth in the NCAA this season and leads Conference USA.
The Owls added another school record Saturday in the men’s 4×400-meter relay with Eric Young II, Trey Geter, Justin Warner, and Pishon Haughton posting a time of 3:07.40.
Rickey Robbins placed second in the shot put with a throw of 17.09 meters (56-1), a personal best. Evan Martinez finished fourth at 16.88 meters (55-4). Geter also recorded a personal best of 47.49 seconds in the 400 meters.
On the women’s side at Clemson, Emma Sullivan and Britney Chatfield posted personal-best times in the 800 meters, finishing second and ninth in 2:03.68 and 2:08.95, respectively. Kali Terza placed eighth in the weight throw with a mark of 20.12 meters (66-0¼) and Samiyah Wayne ran a personal best time of 24.53 in the 200 meters.
Meanwhile in Nashville, Gage Voyles continued his strong freshman season, winning the high jump with a personal-best clearance of 2.13 meters (6-11¾). The victory marked his second event win of the indoor season and moved him into the lead in Conference USA.
Victoria Joyce highlighted Saturday’s action at the Music City Challenge, winning the triple jump while setting a school record with a leap of 12.68 meters (41-7¼).
The Owls added several strong performances in the field events, including Noah Jirgens’ season-best 20.13-meter (66-0½) toss in the weight throw and Myesha Hall’s runner up finish in the long jump at 6.07 meters (19-11).
On the track, Marion Clark placed second in the 400 meters with a time of 47.89 seconds, with Josh Jones finishing third in the 60-meter hurdles final in 7.98 seconds.
Distance runners continued to produce strong results for KSU. Madison Seiler placed seventh in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:30.86, the second-fastest time in program history. Collins Kipkemboi ran 4:08.46 in the mile, also ranking second in school history.
Freshman sprinters and hurdlers contributed key performances as well, with Natalie Harris and Tickia Sutton both running personal bests of 8.40 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles preliminaries before placing seventh and eighth in the final, respectively. Ebony Whyte placed fourth in the 60 meters with a personal-best time of 7.53, and Aminah Jabbie finished third in the 400 meters with her personal-best 57.37.
“We had an awesome weekend,” coach Cale McDaniel said. “Kids did a great job taking another step toward championship season. I am so proud of this program and how far we have come as a group this season.”
The Owls now turn their focus to the Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, scheduled for Feb. 27-28 at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex. The men will look to repeat as conference champions, while the women aim to capture their first CUSA indoor title.
