The UCA Track and Field team attended the Arkansas Invitational at the Randal Tyson Center at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville on Jan. 26.

The competition was the first of the season and would be divided into running and field events which focused on putting, vaulting, high, long and triple jumps and weight throws.

Each of the events would occur between 12:30 and 8:30 p.m.

While just the first meet in the season, the events proved to be very successful for the collegiate athletes.

According to a UCA Sports News article, 26 athletes set new personal records during the event including senior Jack Dingman who set the new school record for the Men’s 3000m race with a time of 8:17.18.

This eclipses the previous record of 8:27.13 set by Alex Hanson in 2022.

Dingman is not the only one who set a personal record in the 3000m category as he is accompanied with junior Kayleigh Wagnon, who had a time of 10:08.26, and sophomore Kamryn Baggs, who had a time of 10:28.23.

Of the various categories four male athletes and one female athlete met a personal record with the in 60m Hurdles category.

These athletes included freshman Zoe Williams, with a time of 8.64; sophomore Jeremiah Boudreaux, with a recorded time of 8.04; sophomore Christian Brown, with a time of 8.24; sophomore Parker Brown with a recorded time of 8.440 and junior Byron Holt with a recorded time of 7.91 (7.904).

The 60m category also saw two male athletes and one female athlete make a new personal best such as sophomore Baleigh Cashion with a recorded time of 7.82 (7.801); freshman Clifton McBride Jr., with a recorded time of 6.99 (6.88) and Lance McNew, who had a time of 7.21; however, this is not the only personal record that McNew had set as he had set a Pole Vault personal record by getting a height of 4.60m.

McNew is joined by senior Kylie Coleman, who obtained a height of 3.60m, and freshman Ansely Drake who got a height of 3.75m.

The Shot Put category had seen three male athletes and one female athlete.

These included sophomore Devyn Steingisser, who achieved a length of 15.71; sophomore Ethan Eddy, who got 12.89m and freshmen Jane Musengwa and Eli Jones who scored 13.53m and 15.81m respectively.

Musengwa and Jones both also set personal records in the Weight Throw category with Musengwa making 15.02m and Jones achieving a distance of 15.24m.

They are joined by seniors Jaden Schneeberger, who not only made a distance of 20.57m but also earned third place in the overall competition, and Joy Nance, who also earned third place with a distance of 18.45m.

The Long Jump category saw sophomores Maverick Walker jump 7.05m and Keirstin Moore jumping a distance of 5.87m.

Of each of the categories, the the One-Mile category had a plurality of athletes meeting their personal records with three male athletes and two female athletes meeting this new including sophomore Dane Janowski, who had achieved a time of 4:17.54; sophomore Trae Baker with 4:12.38; junior Ky Bickford with 4:14.36; junior Brooklyn Nicholson with a time of 5:22.80 and sophomore Abby Machensky with a time of 5:01.74 who had also set a personal record in the 800m category with a time of 2.17.72 along with freshman Lydia Butler who had a time of 2.18.48.

Track and Field and Cross Country Coach Josey Weaver commented on the takeaways from the invitational.

“It’s always nice to get the first competition out of the way,” Weaver said. “We’re walking away with a lot to learn, and at this point in the season it’s about taking those lessons and applying them to the next meet.”

Weaver went on to comment on the successes of the event.

“It was great to see numerous PRs, lifetime bests, and even a school record set in our season opener,” Weaver added. “I’m very proud of Jack Dingman for the way he continues to pour into his craft,”

Weaver then summed up his points.

“Overall, I’m proud of the effort our men and women displayed,” he reiterated. “We have a lot of work ahead of us as we continue building toward the ASUN Championships.”

According to the UCA Track and Field schedule, The next Track and Field event for UCA will be the Washburn Open and Multis and will be held in Topeka Kan. from Jan. 30-31.

Information about the Open can be found on Washburn’s Track and Field page where the meet information, live video and schedule can be found.