ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The South Plains College track and field teams traveled to Albuquerque to compete in the University of New Mexico's 19^th running of the Don Kirby/Rio Rancho Invitational. It was another successful outing as two school records fell and 25 new NJCAA qualifying marks were attained.

Meagan Willingham and Shayla Contreras got SPC off to a good start as they participated in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase. Willingham finished second with a time of 12:06.71, barely missing the school record of 12:04.02 she set at Baylor on April 18. Contreras was fourth and crossed the line in 12:24.12, only .11 seconds from her season best time.

Both Willingham and Contreras will drastically move up the NJCAA lists because the event was run at an altitude of 5,120 feet. With the conversion, Willingham's time on the NJCAA lists will be 11:49.93 which is third best in the NJCAA. Contreras' mark converts to 12:06.80, ranking her seventh in the NJCAA.

Edina Brooks, Shawna Anderson, Nicquel Thomas, and Allysha Wilson teamed up to run a season best in the 4x100 meter relay as they crossed the line in 45.83 seconds. The Lady Texans are now ranked fourth in the NJCAA in the event.

Sean Troop, Latoy Williams, Rodney Campbell, and Bryce Brown squeaked under the school record of 39.76 seconds ran last year when they ran 39.71 seconds. Campbell and Brown were on the squad that previously held the record.

Fred Samoei just missed his season best of 1:48.16 in the 800 meter run as he won the event in a time of 1:48.21. Teammate Sharif Webb finished second in 1:50.55. Samoei's time converts to 1:47.55, which tops the NJCAA list. Webb's time of 1:49.84 attained at Baylor on April 18 ranks second.

In the men's 110 meter hurdles, Bryce Brown and Stephone Jordan each set season bests with Brown winning the event in 14.39 seconds and Jordan finishing second in 14.93 seconds. With the improvement, Brown now ranks seventh nationally in the 110 hurdles. He won the 55 meter hurdle competition at the NJCAA Indoor championships in March.

Edina Brooks, Shakeeri Cole, and Angelle Miranda took three of the top four spots in the women's 400 meter dash as they took second, third, and fourth, respectively. Brooks (2^nd) crossed the line in 55.84 seconds, while Cole and Miranda finished with times of 56.05 and 57.66 seconds.

Rodney Campbell and Sean Troop each punched their tickets to the NJCAA Championships in the 100 meter dash, running times of 10.37 and 10.43 seconds. Campbell finished second while Troop crossed the line in third place.

Nicquel Thomas became the fastest Lady Texan over 200 meters when she won the event with a time of 23.98 seconds. Thomas qualified for the NJCAA meet by improving her time by nearly 1-second. Her previous best time was 24.87 seconds. Allysha Wilson also made a huge improvement to qualify for the national meet by finishing third with a time of 24.63 seconds.

After running a great 100 meter dash, Campbell returned in the men's 200 meter dash to post another season best. Campbell finished third in the event with a time of 21.10 seconds, bettering his 21.43 from the University of Texas at El Paso on March 28.

Gladys Chumba crossed the line in fourth place in the women's 1,500 meter run, finishing with a time of 4:53.35 which converts to 4:47.28 and moves her to eighth on the NJCAA list.

Fred Samoei led a group of four Texans in the men's 1,500 meter run when he won the race and posted a time of 3:52.82. Mitchell Driver (4^th), who ran 3:56.70 at Baylor last month, posted an improvement on the NJCAA list as his time of 4:01.27 converts to 3:55.94 when factoring in the altitude. Anthony Pequeno (6^th) and Tallam Kipruto (7^th) also qualified for the NJCAA meet when they finished with times of 4:03.41(3:58.08) and 4:03.45 (3:58.12). The conversion in the men's 1,500 meter run is -5.33 seconds.

Kelly Closse began the field events by reclaiming the school record in the hammer throw. Closse and teammate Melinda Bendik have swapped the record a couple of times during the season. Bendik owned it entering the season and Closse claimed it on March 28 in El Paso, only to have Bendik take it back April 9 at Texas Tech. Closse may have put her stamp on the record this time as she broke the record by 8 feet, 4 inches with a throw of 176-07.00. Closse won the event, while Bendik finished third with a throw of 155-05.00.

Bendik and Closse returned a couple hours later to compete in the women's discus throw where Bendik finished fifth with a throw of 134-05.00 and Closse was eighth with a mark of 124-08.00. Bendik owns the school record with her throw of 142-05 at Baylor last month, while Closse qualified for the NJCAA Championships in her season debut.

Demarius Bell and Kyron Blaise each improved their marks in the men's long jump as Bell won the event with a leap of 25-04.00 and Blaise was second at 24-07.00. Bell will move to third on the NJCAA long jump list, while Blaise sits in seventh with his mark of 24-07.75 from the NJCAA Indoor Championships.

After jumping well in the long jump, Blaise then posted another season best in the men's triple jump. Blaise's jump of 53-01.75 dominated the event and was within four inches of tying the school record set by Shardae Boutte in 2006. Blaise now ranks first in the NJCAA in the triple jump.

Blaise's Texan teammates Dellon Williams and Austin Delaney also set seasonal bests in the event. Williams eclipsed the 50-foot barrier and finished second with a jump of 51-08.50, while Delaney posted his first national qualifier in the event with a leap of 49-06.50, good for a fourth place finish.

Kia Wansley, who's previous best in the women's triple jump was 37-08.50, jumped 40-03.75 in New Mexico and now sits fifth nationally.

Michael Carter won the men's shot put with a throw of 52-10.75. Carter, however, has already posted a throw of over 55-feet earlier in the season. His teammate, Daniel Rodriguez, improved his season best by nearly two feet when he finished second to Carter with a throw of 50-06.25.

When all was said and done the Texans and Lady Texans set two new school records (men's 4x100 and Kelly Closse in the hammer) and attained 25 new NJCAA qualifying marks. The new NJCAA qualifying marks were from: Daniel Rodriguez (Shot Put), Demarius Bell (Long Jump), Kyron Blaise (Long Jump, Triple Jump), Dellon Williams (Triple Jump), Austin Delaney (Triple Jump), Rodney Campbell (100, 200), Sean Troop (100), Chicanel Cole (800), Mitchell Driver (1,500), Anthony Pequeno (1,500), Tallam Kipruto (1,500), Bryce Brown (110 Hurdles), Fred Samoei (800), 4x100 relay (men), Kelly Closse (Hammer, Discus), Kia Wansley (Triple Jump), Nicquel Thomas (200), Allysha Wilson (200), Gladys Chumba (1,500), Meagan Willingham (3,000 Steeplechase), Shayla Contreras (3,000 Steeplechase), 4x100 relay (women).

The Texan and Lady Texan track and field teams will return to action on Thursday, May 7 when they travel to Texas Tech University.

The SPC javelin competitors will not have far to travel as the javelin competition will be held at the South Plains College track and field facility. The men will throw at 12 p.m. and the women will begin immediately after. The remaining field events will begin at Texas Tech at 3 p.m. and running at 5:30 p.m.