The Meet: UTA Invitational 

Dates: Friday, Apr. 2 and Saturday, Apr. 3 

Location: Maverick Stadium in Arlington, Texas 

ABOUT THE UTA INVITATIONAL 

Tarleton is together as a whole squad for a second time this season at the UTA Invitational. Indeed, the Texans will be represented by at least one athlete in all but two events offered at the meet. 

Competition begins for Tarleton at 11 a.m. on Friday with the hammer throw. Members of the Texans' distance crew will later make their season debut in the 5,000m, which is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. Day two commences at 10 a.m. with the long jump and the meet concludes with the 4x400m relays at 4:30 p.m. Track events, beginning with the women's 4x400m relay, are set to start at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. 

The field features a mix of Division I and Division II programs. Tarleton and UTA are joined by regional DI opponents in Arkansas-Pine Bluff, North Texas and Oral Roberts. Oklahoma Baptist, Texas Wesleyan and Fort Scott CC are sending athletes to Arlington as well. 

The Texans are riding a positive momentum swing into Maverick Stadium. Five multi-event athletes combined to set 34 personal records on Wednesday and Thursday in the heptathlon and decathlon at the Angelo State David Noble Relays. Last week, Tarleton's women's 4x100m and men's 4x400m relay teams posted to top overall times in the Western Athletic Conference at the Texas Relays. 

COMPETING FOR TARLETON 

Sprints 

Seniors Jamel Anderson and Jamsine McQuirter are entered in the 100m dash as is freshman Kailson Brinson. McQuirter owns the sixth-fastest time in the event in the WAC at 12.16 seconds and will also run the first leg on the Texans' 4x100m relay team/ 

The Texans have a combined 17 men's and women's athletes racing in the 200m dash. The list on the women's side is highlighted by Tarleton newcomers Hanna Dudley and Nyla Barlow, who rank third and fourth, respectively, in the WAC in the event with season-best times of 24.87 and 24.92. All four members of Tarleton's conference-leading 4x400m relay team will race on the men's side. Anterius Brown, Brandon McKissick and Zachary Martinez are scheduled for both the 200m dash and 400m while Alan Palmer, who anchored the relay in Austin, will compete in the 200m dash and 4x100m relay. 

Brown owns the top 400m time in the WAC this season at 47.68 while McKissick ranks fourth with a time of 48.74. Anayah Copeland highlights a list of four athletes entered in the women's 400m. She sits in 10th in the event at 58.47 on the WAC outdoor performance list. Tarleton has 10 athletes scheduled for the 400m. 

Distance 

Kevin Baez leads a list of six athletes racing in Friday's 5,000m run. Baez owns a track and field personal record of 15:38.88 in the event and became the first athlete in Tarleton sports history to garner All-Conference honors when he took 10th place in February's WAC Cross Country Championships. He'll be joined by fellow sophomore Dominick Vastlik and freshmen Lucas Kurtz and Riley McClure in the men's race. Senior Imani Williams and sophomore Kaleigh Ellis represent Tarleton in the women's race. Williams had Tarleton's fastest time in the event (18:20.45) during the 2020 indoor season. 

Williams and Ellis conclude their two-event slate in Arlington with the 1,500m run on Saturday as will Baez and Vastlik. Johnnie Wilkinson, who was the Texan women's No. 2 finisher in all races during the spring cross country season, is entered in the 1,500m and 800m.  

The women's 800m features two of Tarleton's best women's middle distance runners in Jenna Brazeal and Alessa King. Brazeal, a sophomore, broke the indoor school record in the event in 2020 with a time of 2:18.40 while King has the eighth-fastest time in the WAC at 2:22.78. 

Hurdles 

Cornelius Coleman will look to post his third sub-14.50 finish in the 110m hurdles in as many weeks while freshman Brady Sisneroz is hunting his third straight set of personal records in the 110m and 400m hurdles. Sisneroz ranks inside the top-10 in the WAC in both events while Coleman has the conference's fastest 110m hurdles time at 14.40. 

Ashlynn Cash will run solo for Tarleton in the women's 400m hurdles. The sophomore is Tarleton's No. 2 performer in the event with a season personal record of 1:08.72. Jill Johnson and Dahmir Pearson make their respective season debuts in the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles while Joey Ortiz-Martinez is entered in both races. 

Relays 

Tarleton is running its top women's 4x100m relay team for the second time in as many weeks. McQuirter, Dudley, Barlow and Reagan Gallagher clocked a time of 47.02 at the Texas Relays in their first time competing together. All four sprinters rank inside the top-10 of the WAC outdoor performance list in the 100m. 

The Texans 'A' 4x100m relay team on the men's side features Anderson and Palmer along with program newcomers Ethan Hood and Erikmycal Powell. Hood, a freshman, is Tarleton's top 100m and 200m sprinter and Powell ranks ninth in the WAC in the long jump (23' 0.5"). 

Throws 

Elena Reagan and Oscar Rodriguez get Tarleton's two-day stay in Arlington started in the hammer throw. Both athletes will then compete in the discus on Saturday. Reagan owns the conference's seventh-best mark in the discus (133'3") and Rodriguez entered the WAC top-10 in the hammer throw with a career-best heave of 154' 7" at the Wes Kittley ACU Invitational on March 19. 

Tarleton has four other athletes entered in the discus: Bonnie Clifton and Marshae Davis on the women's side and Ethan Bratton and Jacob Bowers in the men's competition. Bratton and Bowers are seventh and ninth in the event in the WAC. 

Jumps 

The Texans could feasibly have all four women's athletes entered crack the top-10 of the women's long jump. Gallagher and Chloe Goodman advanced to the finals at ACU while Brianna Arline sits in second in the WAC in the triple jump at 39' 3.25". Arline, a freshman, is a long jumper by trade and entered the top-five of the program's outdoor records list in the triple jump with her effort at ACU. Rounding out the entries list is Nakia Dunn, who claimed ninth place in both the long jump and triple jump at the 2020 LSC Indoor Championships. 

Powell is the lone entrant in the men's long jump. Viviana Benítez and Jaden Hall are Tarleton's participants in the triple jump. Hall leapt 46' 11" in his Texan debut at ACU, good enough for No. 6 on the WAC outdoor performance list.

Gentrye Munden leads Tarleton's entries list in the high jump. The Cleburne, Texas native is currently fourth in the high jump with a season personal record of 5' 03".

LAST TIME OUT: ASU DAVID NOBLE RELAYS 

All four multi-event athletes who completed the heptathlon or decathlon set career-highs in points scored. Emily Simon was Tarleton's top performer. She finished fourth in the heptathlon with 4,870 points. The senior is second in the WAC in the heptathlon and is just 255 points away from breaking Tarleton's outdoor school record in the event. Simon now ranks in the top-10 of the WAC outdoor performance list in four events: the heptathlon, 100m hurdles, high jump and long jump. Freshmen Sarah Ahmadi and Isaac Hutchings made their multi-event competition debuts and respectively scored 3,604 points and 5,638 points to finish eighth at the meet. Senior Skyler Sandusky made his decathlon debut and racked up 5,566 points to claim ninth place at ASU and the No. 9 spot on the WAC outdoor performance list. 

UP NEXT: NORTH TEXAS CLASSIC 

Tarleton travels further east in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for the UNT Classic on Apr. 10 in Denton.  

TEXANS ACROSS THE WAC OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE LIST 

Men 

400m 
1. Brown – 47.68 
4. McKissick – 48.74 

110m Hurdles 
1. Coleman – 14.40 
8. Sisneroz – 15.21 

400m Hurdles 
5. Sisneroz – 55.98 

High Jump 
4. Palmer – 6' 6.25" 
9. Maxon Newell – 6' 0.75" 

Pole Vault 
10. Hutchings – 13' 11.25" 

Long Jump 
4. Palmer – 24' 0.75" 
9. Erikmycal Powell – 23' 0.5" 

Triple Jump 
6. Jaden Hall – 46' 11" 

Discus
7. Ethan Bratton – 151' 5" 
9. Jacob Bowers – 144' 8" 

Hammer 
8. Oscar Rodriguez – 154' 7" 

Decathlon 
8. Hutchings – 5.638 
9. Sandusky – 5,566 

Women 

100m 
2. Dudley – 11.98 
5. Barlow – 12.14 
6. McQuirter – 12.16 
10. Gallagher – 12.25 

200m 
3. Dudley – 24.87 
4. Barlow – 24.92 

400m 
10. Anayah Copeland – 58.47 

800m 
8. Alessa King – 2:22.78 

100m Hurdles 
5. Simon – 14.47 

400m Hurdles 
4. Bachmeyer – 1:05.82 

High Jump 
3. Simon – 5' 3.25" 
4. Munden – 5' 3" 

Long Jump 
2. McQuirter – 19' 6.25" 
7. Simon – 18' 3.25" 

Triple Jump 
2. Brianna Arline – 39' 3.25" 

Discus 
7. Elena Reagan – 133' 3" 

Heptathlon 
2. Simon – 4,870 
8. Ahmad – 3,604 

NOTABLE NOTES 

• WES KITTLEY ACU INVITATIONAL (March 19-20): 35 athletes turned in top-10 performances at the meet and the Texans had eight combined top-five finishes in individual events and relays. Brown and Palmer were the highest-placing finishers for Tarleton. Brown finished second in the 400m while Palmer earned a silver medal in the long jump and high jump. McQuirter took third in the long jump and was the top performer on the women's side. 

• Tarleton had four athletes finish inside the top-11 in the discus at ACU. Ethan Bratton had the best performance of any Texan, placing sixth with a personal best heave of 151' 5". Elena Reagan finished seventh in the women's competition at 133' 3". Jacob Bowers took ninth on the men's side with a personal record of 144' 8" and Bonnie Clifton nearly joined Reagan in the top-10, taking 11th place at 119' 8". 

• Freshman Ethan Hood owns Tarleton's top marks in the 100m (10.83) and 200m (22.23). 

• Barlow, a transfer from Houston Baptist, now ranks eighth and ninth all-time, respectively, in program history in the outdoor 200m and 100m. 

• Tarleton had two women's 4x400m relay teams finish inside the top-eight at ACU. Dudley, Barlow, Gallagher and Bachmeyer combined to post a time of 4:03.02 and claim sixth place while the Texans' team of King, Copeland, Danielle Thomas and Lightsey Puryear took seventh in 4:04.13.