The UCA men’s and women’s track & field teams dominated the Richard Martin Invitational at the Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex March 21-22.
The Bears won 15 out of 16 men’s events and 12 out of 16 women’s events against Hendrix College, the University of the Ozarks, Harding University, Central Baptist College and several club teams from all across Arkansas.
The UCA women broke two program records: one coming from sophomore thrower Joia Perry in the hammer throw with a distance of 61.05 meters and the other from junior distance runner Madeleine Hill in the one-mile race with a time of 5:01.91.
Sophomore sprinter Raghan Allen won the women’s 100m in 11.48, which ranked her as the third-fastest performer in program history.
Allen also won the 200m in 23.81, which was .39 ahead of her closest competitor, sophomore Brenae Allen. The Bears took first through 12th place in the women’s 200m.
Fifth-year sprinter Sakara Harrison won the women’s 400m race in 57.31, which was .89 ahead of senior short sprinter Kamaria Russell’s second-place finish with a time of 58.22.
The Bears took first through fourth place in the women’s 100m hurdles despite a starting error in which not all of the competitors were able to get completely set before the gun went off, with senior long sprinter Symone Quiles winning by .09 in 14.56.
The Bears swept the podium in nine out of 16 events on the women’s side.
On the men’s side, UCA swept the podium in the one-mile race, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles and the shot put.
Freshman Jeremiah Boudreaux dominated both men’s hurdle events, taking the 110m with a time of 14.04 and the 400m with a time of 52.73. Boudreaux won the 400m hurdles by 3.38 seconds.
Senior thrower Jaden Schneeberger won the men’s shot put with a 16.82-meter throw. Junior Aidan Patton and graduate student Malik Beasley rounded out the top three with 15.90 and 15.41 meter throws, respectively.
Freshman Maverick Walker was the only competitor to clear seven meters in the men’s long jump, winning the event with a 7.02-meter jump.
Freshman Tomas Farr won the men’s pole vault in 4.13 meters, and freshman Jeff King won the men’s javelin with a 59.69-meter throw.
UCA head track & field coach Josey Weaver said that the outcome of the team’s home meet was a good start to the outdoor season.
“We’re honestly ahead of the schedule with what we saw today,” Weaver said. “Nothing’s going to get judged on how good we are in March and April, but they’re going to judge us on how good we are at the ASUN Championships in May, but really encouraged by what we saw today.”
Over spring break, the track and field Bears competed at the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina, the Texas Relays in Austin and the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, Texas.
During these meets, multiple athletes broke school records and achieved new personal records.
In regard to the Raleigh Relays, coach Josey Weaver said, “This was a great spring break meet for our track and field teams. We had athletes at Texas Relays, Raleigh Relays, and Texas State. We saw school records fall at multiple locations. We definitely got better this weekend.”
Senior Jaden Schneeberger broke the school record in men’s weight throw with a 63.58-meter throw at the Bobcat Invitational. Schneeberger also placed fifth in the event.
Senior Pete Johnson broke the school record for men’s 3000m steeplechase with a time of 8:54.11, also placing among the top 25 competitors in the event.
Senior Ali Nachtigal broke her personal record for the women’s 3000m steeplechase.
Weaver said, “These athletes had a great day of competition.”
He said, “This was a unique trip for us, considering we were on spring break. It allowed us to focus solely on the track meet.”
Weaver said the team’s main goal is progression.
“As long as we are taking the small steps forward week by week, then we know we’ll be at our best when it comes to the championship meets in May,” he said.
The next meet is the Bison Open in Searcy, Arkansas, on April 5.