The University of Central Arkansas Bears men’s track and field team participated in the Texas Tech Open in Lubbock, Texas, Jan. 28-29, setting multiple personal bests.

On day one of the open, junior Jalal Taylor placed 15th and set a personal best in the long jump at 6.59 meters, sophomore Tristan LaVan set a 400-meter personal best at 46.61 seconds and senior Armonte Paulk set a 400-meter dash personal best at 49.21 seconds.

The UCA men’s distance medley team — consisting of senior Jaron Hamilton, senior Shamal Sullivan, sophomore Niklas Iking and freshman Fionn Harrington — placed 4th, with a time of 10:07.09 on day one of the open.

Iking placed 8th in the 800-meter dash with a time of 1:54.90 on day two of the event. 

Having recently taken a week off after pulling his right sartorius muscle, Hamilton said, “I was still able to pace my way to putting us in a decent position for the distance medley relay. We can easily knock a few seconds to dip under the school record on the right day.” The team missed the school record by 1.5 seconds. 

“If my leg holds up, I can see great PRs coming. If it does not, then having a strong and fun trip like this weekend will be worth all the while,” Hamilton said.

On day two of the open Harrington set a mile personal best at 4:22.38, and Taylor set a triple jump personal best at 14.21 meters, placing him in 13th. Multiple personal bests were set for the 200-meter dash. LaVan with 21.64 seconds, sophomore Alec Townsley with 22.26, senior Jordan Atkins with 22.515 and freshman Preston Barker with 22.96.

Harrington set a personal best in the men’s mile with a time of 4:22.38, placing him in 13th.

LaVan, Townsley and Atkins set personal bests in the 200-meter dash, placing 19th, 44th and 53rd, respectively.

“I was disappointed that I came up short for the team by missing the school record in both of my events by two seconds. It was a good meet to see that I’m progressing forward!” Sullivan said. 

Along with the distance medley team, Sullivan is also on the men’s 4×400 relay with Lavan, Townsley and Paulk. On day two, the team set a 3:14.12, placing in 4th.

“I know for the next two weeks I’ll be doing extra work after practice and drinking a protein shake daily before our next competition,” Sullivan said.

The men’s track and field team will travel to Pittsburgh State University Feb. 11 for their next meet.