The SHSU track team competed this weekend in the Texas Christian
University Invitational meet on Saturday, and, following the trend of the last few meets, came home with some very impressive results.
“This is the third meet in a row that our performance level has been extremely high,” said SHSU head track coach, Greg Hinze. “I really wasn’t expecting that this meet because we had a very high volume, hard training week.”
The training is apparently paying off.
Prior to this weekend, the top time in the nation in the men’s 200-meter dash was 20.65. SHSU’s Chris
Stewart ran a 20.61 and finished fourth in his heat behind the new top three athletes in the country. Stewart’s time is currently the fourth fastest time in the nation, pending marks from other meets around the country.
This race put Stewart in position as the Southland Conference leader, gave him an NCAA Regional Qualifying time and put him in the SHSU record books.
However, Stewart was not the only athlete to have a good day at TCU.
Several SHSU athletes, put up high marks, even though it may not be evident by the final standings.
“TCU is loaded, as usual, in the sprints, and we had several athletes run very fast times that rank high on the conference list, but didn’t place or placed low,” Hinze said.
Despite that, the Kats were still able to finish the meet with a few top three finishes.
Joe Amburn came away with first place in the steeplechase. Raul Villarreal finished third in the 5000-meter run, and second in the steeplechase. Randy Flach posted a second place finish in the pole vault, and James Thomas and T.J. Cretors finished first and second in the javelin.
Clint Gallagher threw his way into the NCAA regional qualifying meet with a second place finish and a throw of 53 feet, 11 inches.
“Clint Gallagher was huge for us in the shot put Saturday. Getting a qualifying mark in that event was something I knew he was capable of, but honestly, wasn’t expecting, at least not now,” Hinze said. “And
Joe Amburn found another event to score in at the conference meet after winning the steeplechase his first time competing in it, despite falling down over one of the barriers.”
On the girls’ side, Hinze said he was equally impressed. Summer Sizemore continued to perform well in the pole vault, placing third with a jump of
11-5.75. Kym Norsworthy finished second in the long jump with a jump of
18-10.75 and Sarah Hershman walked away with a first place finish in the steeplechase.
The girls’ 4×400-meter relay team of Crystal Anderson, Tiara Young, Rachele Stevenson and Quantinette Fields set a new school record, having run a 3:49.61.
“There is still a lot of season left, and we have to stay away from injuries and perform well when it counts, but I’m really starting to like this team and what it is capable of,” said Hinze.