STEPHENVILLE, Tex. — Tarleton State Track and Field enters the second week of its outdoor slate on Friday and Saturday with the two-day Clyde Hart Classic hosted by Baylor.
The Texans will compete amongst a 15-team field. The meet will host five Power Four programs including Arkansas, Texas, TCU, Iowa State and Baylor. The Texans are joined by UTA as the only WAC Schools in the competition. Also competing are St. Edwards, SFA, Sam Houston State, Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Tech, University of St. Thomas, Huston-Tillotson and UNT-Dallas. The competition will not be streamed, but for live updates and highlights follow @tarletontrackxc on Instagram and X.
Also entered in the meet is an elite group of athletes opening their outdoor seasons. The list includes 2024 Paris Olympics three-time gold medalist Gabby Thomas, 2016 Olympics heptathlon champion Dalilah Muhammad, 2024 Olympics 400-meter hurdles silver medalist Anna Cockrell, Taliyah Brooks, bronze medalist in the heptathlon at the 2024 Olympics and Alexis Holmes, an Olympic gold medalist in the 4x400 relay.
Following a school-record performance in the women's hammer throw last weekend at ACU with a best toss of 61.45 meters, Wessely was named the WAC Women's Field Athlete of the Week. The senior became the first Texan to earn the honor outdoors this season and picked up her second recognition in her career. All five of Wessely's throws were farther than her previous school record as well as any other competitor in the competition with her earning her first title of the outdoor season.
At the season opener at the ACU Wes Kittley Invitational, the Texans set five new program top ten bests including the two new school records.
Jacob Thomas also broke a school record. The 17-year-old mark of 5.01 meters was finally broken by Thomas who cleared a 5.06-meter attempt. He placed third in the men's pole vault. In addition, the Texans placed 11 athletes in the top three in their respective event. Wessely and
Kaitlyn Gale each won their event. Gale won the 3000-meter steeplechase in 10:53.32 on Friday night. After the first weekend, the Texans have 21 performances listed on the NCAA West region top 50 performances of the season list. Gale and Wessely each rank in the top ten with Gale in sith and Wessely at seventh.
Last year, the Texans historic outdoor season ended at the NCAA Division I National Championships for the first time in program history. The Texans had a pair of athletes claim First Team All-American recognition, a relay and an athlete with Second Team honors, and an Honorable Mention All-American. The Purple and White had seven athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships.
Prestina Ochonogor and
Lokesh Sathyanathan each earned first team in the long jump.
This will be the Texans first of three trips to Baylor this season. Tarleton State will head to Waco again on Friday, April 10 as well as April 24-25 for a pair of meets. The Texans will host a home meet on April 17-18 and wrap up the regular season at the SMU Invitational on May 1-2.
Tarleton State will continue its outdoor slate at one of the premiere events of the regular season next week, the Texas Relays from April 2-4. The three-day event will start for the Texans on Thursday and conclude on Saturday. The event is a mix of collegiate events as well as high school events and is held at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
