The UCA track and field team made UCA history at the Bobcat Invitation from April 2-4 at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.
The meet would see multiple UCA Track athletes go for gold as some would soar into the top five positions in their respective competitions, setting UCA records in the process.
The invitational would open at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday starting with the women’s discus competition.
UCA’s own freshman Jane Musengwa placed fifth in said competition getting a distance of 42.33 meters.
This opened up the long and successful weekend that the track and field team would see.
Thursday had even more successful competitions for UCA athletes, with the field competitions alone seeing senior Kylie Colemann taking fifth place getting a distance of 3.45 meters in the women’s pole jousting competition.
However, the highlight of the Thursday field competitions goes to sophomore Jeff King who got first place in the men’s javelin throwing competition.
The sophomore earned first place, scoring a distance of 66.65 meters.
Not only does this put King in an impressive position, it also breaks UCA records on the level of javelin tossing dethroning Michaelangelo Bullard’s previous record of 63.44 meters.
The running competitions at the meet also saw multiple athletes giving it their all including freshman Zoe Williams, who placed second in the women’s 100 meter hurdle races with a time of 13.96.
Williams would not give the only impressive run on Thursday, with freshman Clifton McBride Jr. getting sixth place in the men’s 100 meter race with a time of 10.58.
This puts McBride third in all of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) overall in the category; however, this would only scrape the surface for the freshman’s talent in the competition.
The next day would see McBride getting 16th place in the men’s 200 meter race. This puts McBride in the lead of the ASUN Conference in this category.
However, the team would really shine in the field based competitions.
Sophomores Sloan Jones and Nathan Uptagrafft both participated in the decathlon with Jones scoring a total of 3987 points and Uptagrafft scoring 3907 putting them in fourth and fifth place respectively.
According to the Athletic Net, both athletes have set new records in the race with Uptagrafft now taking the second place UCA record and Jones taking the top spot in UCA record history.
There was also senior Serena Degollado who placed fifth in the women’s shot put section B competition, as she got her ball to a distance of 12.85 meters.
It would be senior Jaden Schneeberger who would take the third honor of the day, however, as he took fifth place in the men’s put shot competition with a distance of 17.19 meters. This ranks him 78th in the entire NCAA D1 league.
It should be noted, however, that Schneeberger would not be the only UCA male athlete who made a record in this category with freshman Eli Jones, who got tenth place, and sophomore Devyn Steingisser, who got 15th, both obtaining a distance of 15.66 meters and 14.72 meters respectively.
Friday would not be Schneeberger’s only success as he would break another record the very next day in the hammer throwing competition, getting a distance of 64.74 meters. This puts Schneeberger as the lead in the subject in ASUN and 30th in the NCAA.
Schneeberger is followed by senior Treaver Green who is ranked second, Eli Jones who is ranked fourth in the category and Steingisser is ranked fifth in UCA history.
On the women’s side, junior Joia Perry would get second place in the women’s hammer throw with a score of 62.25 meters, making her 19th in the NCAA D1.
The meet comes at the same time as the Texas Relays, which began the day before the Bobcat Invitational began on April 2.
There would be some overlap with the players in both meets with Williams also participating in the women’s 100 meter hurdle race on Friday.
Like many of the other athletes at these competitions, Williams would set a new record at the event, be crowned 57th in the NCAA D1 and currently leads ASUN in the category.
She is joined by sophomore Bailee Villavaso, who got fifth in women’s pole vaulting and also set a new UCA record at exactly four meters distance on Thursday; Brenae Allen, who got 13th in women’s 100 meter racing with a time of 11.56 becoming second in ASUN and 43rd in NCAA D1 and Troynelle Millier, who followed Allen in the same race getting 24th place at a time of 11.59 becoming NCAA’s 68th ranked.
Track and Field and Cross Country Coach Josey Weaver expressed his pride in the team.
“It was a great weekend for our group, maximizing the opportunity to compete at both the Texas Relays and Texas State Invitationals. We’re walking away in a much stronger position, with multiple school records, NCAA First Round marks, and plenty of PRs,” Weaver said, “Now the focus is on building off that momentum as we head up the road to Arkansas.”
With the Arkansas Invitational right around the corner on April 11, the team will need to keep preparing; however, the level they are currently at shows promise.