STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Track and Field honored their class of 2026 seniors and took home 15 individual event titles in the third annual Joe Gillespie Invitational at the Tarleton State Track and Field Complex.

The Texans crowned 15 event champions across the two days. The Purple and White set 12 new program top 10 performance bests. Tarleton State also posted seven new facility records across the two days. Texan nation showed out on each day despite Saturday starting with over a four-hour weather delay. At the conclusion of the meet on Saturday evening, the Texans honored their 18 seniors with a special presentation and gift.

"It was great seeing a lot of the university out here to support this weekend," said head coach Bobby Carter. "This team has battled so much adversity, and they did well this weekend. The weather wasn't the greatest, but we learned from this moment. We had a lot of personal bests and West preliminary round qualifiers! I'm excited to see what we will do in May, as conference championships are coming up soon. As I always say, the job is not finished and Greater is Coming!"

Friday

Victoria Cameron took home the victory in the women's 200 meters and set the new facility record. She clocked in a season-opening time of a wind-legal 23.05 seconds, just 0.01 seconds off wind-legal personal best, 23.04 seconds. Nellie Wartanian placed third with the sixth-best mark in program history in 23.79 seconds. Amandine Estival placed fifth in 23.95 seconds. Emma Holmes crossed in 24.00 seconds, the seventh fastest in school history. Malak Rashwan ran the tenth fastest time in Tarleton State history in the event crossing in 24.24 seconds.

In the men's 200 meters the Texans went 2-3-4. Cam Hawkins placed second with a personal best of 21.09 seconds. Hawkins now ranks sixth in program history. Jalen Cadet placed third in 21.16 seconds, the eighth-fastest time in school history. JayBrion Jones placed fourth in his 200-meter season opener in 21.37 seconds.

Kaitlyn Gale placed fifth in the 1500 meters. She clocked in at 4:44.05 seconds, the new eighth fastest time in Texan history.


Saturday

The men's 4x100 meter relay team made their season debut winning the event in a field of two teams. The group consisting of David Mvundura, Cadet, Hawkins and Jones crossed in 39.80 seconds, the second fastest in program history.

The women's 4x100 meter relay team also took home the title placing first in the field and setting the new facility record. The squad ran a season-opening time of 43.70 seconds, the second best in program history behind the 43.66 seconds performance from the 2025 NCAA West First Rounds. The squad consisted of Nellie Wartanian, Lauren Roy, Estival and Cameron.

Ca'terrin Cox took home first place in the 110-meter hurdles. He clocked in at 14.16 seconds to take his first title of the spring. Omar Khaled placed third crossing in 14.45 seconds.

Malak Rashwan took home the individual title in the women's 100-meter hurdles in 14.16 seconds. Syenna Lara placed second in 14.54 seconds.

Tayler Wessely claimed her third event victory in the hammer throw this outdoor season. The senior threw all four of her counted throws at least 57 meters, with her winning toss coming in at 59.77 meters. She took home the facility record by six meters with her winning throw.

Jacob Thomas placed first in the men's vault with his only clearance of 4.82 meters. He was the last vaulter to enter and after his clearance at 4.82 meters, he was the last vaulter left in the competition. He then passed till the bar was at 5.27, which would set the new school record. He nearly converted it but ended without a success after his three tries. Rhett Williams earned a third-place finish with a best clearance of 4.37 meters. He set the new facility record by just over an inch.

The Texan men went 1-2-3-4 in the 400. Cam Hawkins took home the 400-meter crown running the fourth-fastest time in program history. Hawkins clocked in at 47.37 seconds, beating his personal best by over half of a second. Timothy Price Jr. placed second with a season-best 47.77-seconds performance. Tristan Galvan placed third in 48.77 seconds, and Adan Santoyo finished fourth in 48.84 seconds.

Emma Holmes took home the crown in the women's 400 meters. She set the new facility record and nearly broke the school record in her season debut clocking in at 54.15 seconds, just 0.09 seconds shy of the program record of 15.06. With her 54.15 seconds run, she now ranks second in program history. She held the victory by over two full seconds. Also in the 400, Zoe Ray ran 57.27 seconds to place third.

Jones took first place in the 100 meters while setting the new all conditions facility record. With the wind at 2.4 meters per second, his time didn't count to be the new school record, but he claims the fastest time ever ran at the Tarleton State Track and Field regardless of the conditions. Cadet finished in second in 10.47 seconds which would have ranked eighth in program history, if the time had been wind-legal.

Madison Barrett earned the victory in the women's 400 hurdles. She held a substantial lead throughout the race and clocked in at 1:05.50. She won by nearly two full seconds.

Colton Andress and Davi Torres tied for the victory in the men's high jump. The duo's best clearance was each at 1.96 meters and neither had a miss before the final bar. Andress cleared both the 1.91 and 1.96-meter marks, where Torres entered with his first bar at the 1.96-meter mark.

Johnathon Rodgers notched the victory in the men's triple jump. Rodgers landed the top three jumps in the competition with all three coming in over 15.20 meters. Rodgers' best leap of 15.43 meters came on his third attempt.

Sofia DeGroot took home the title in the women's triple jump. She opened in the triple jump in her outdoor season with her first spring victory. Her best jump of 12.50 meters came on her third attempt and won the title by four inches. Jayana Phillips placed in third with a best leap of 12.30 meters, setting a new season-best for the freshman. With that mark, she now ranks fifth in program history.

Jordan Ferguson ran the eighth-fastest time in program history while finishing in second place. Ferguson set a new personal best crossing in 53.10 seconds. Braylon Hoffman was right behind him clocking in at 53.30 seconds, just 0.09 seconds off of his personal best.

Sir Jonathan Sims placed second in the men's long jump. Sims best leap of 7.63 meters came on his second attempt of the day.

Mason Hill finished in second in the men's shot put. Hill improved on each of his first four throw with his fourth throw being his best at 16.78 meters. 

The Texans will have two more regular season meets before the WAC Championships. Next Friday and Saturday, April 24-25, the Texans will head to Baylor to compete at the Michael Johnson Invitational. The squad's regular season finale will take place on Friday and Saturday May 1-2 at the SMU Invitational.