The Sam Houston State Bearkat track team had a split weekend with the Beach Invitational in California and the Texas Invitational in Austin.
The Bearkat runners placed high in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, redshirt senior William Stark took second with a time of 53.40, moving up to fourth in the league. He added another runner-up finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a mark of 14.55. Elsewhere, Ethan Woods and sophomore Eric Pouncy placed third, fourth respectively in the 400-meter dash at 48.15, and 49.00.
At the Texas Invitational in Austin, SHSU’s track and field teams had an even more impressive performance. Junior Anthony Garcia secured third in the javelin throw with a toss of 215 feet, 11 inches, which was good for third best in the Southland Conference and his best mark overall for the outdoor season. In the women’s pole vault, sophomore Margaret Lasalle also cracked the top-five, finishing fourth at 12 feet, two and-a-half-inches inches and, followed by teammate Cameron Boedeker in a tie for fifth with the same mark. In the men’s triple jump, sophomore jumper Saige Revell finished in tenth with a leap of 46 feet, six inches.
On the women’s side, sophomore Darian Bucknor took the 17 spot with a leap of 38 feet, two inches. In the women’s hammer throw, freshman Halie Daniel grabbed the 21 spot with a throw of125 feet, nine inches. Daniel also took ninth in the shot put with a distance of 44 feet, three-fourths inches. Freshman Joshua Hernandez grabbed ninth place in the same event for the men with a mark of 205 feet, one inch while junior Michael Nichols secured 22 with a distance of 152 feet, nine inches. Nichols also captured 12 place in the shot put (50 feet) and Hernandez followed finishing in 14 place (47 feet, 7 inches).
“Overall, I’m very satisfied with both groups that went out and competed in Austin and California this weekend,” assistant coach Tyler Sunwall said. “It has definitely been a season to remember.”
The Bearkat track and field teams will split again on April 22 to compete in two events. One half of the team will travel to Baton Rouge, LA to compete in the LSU Alumni Gold while the other half will travel to Houston to compete in the Tom Tellez Invitational.
