LUBBOCK - The South Plains College track and field teams took advantage of their final competition before the NJCAA Outdoor championships by winning seven events, attaining 18 new NJCAA marks, and setting four school records at the Texas Tech Invitational.

Colleen Felix broke the school record in the women's javelin for the third time this year, winning the event that was contested at South Plains with a throw of 148-feet, 4-inches.

In the women's hammer throw, Melinda Bendik threw just under her season best as she finished in second place with a best throw of 166-08.00. Kelly Closse, the current school record holder in the event, finished third, throwing 160-07.00.

Bendik returned to compete in the women's discus throw and smashed her own school record by 11-feet, 8-inches on her way to a fourth place finish with a throw of 154-01.00. Closse was also in the event and set a new season best of 132-09.00, finishing sixth.

Zach Morgan boosted his season best by over two feet when he finished third in the men's discus with a throw of 151-03.00.

Marianne Wheeler and Shaneika McRae each tied their season bests in the women's high jump when Wheeler finished fourth at 5-05.00, and McRae finished fifth at 5-03.00.

Wade Thornton won the men's high jump competition with a leap of 6-08.25. Thornton narrowly missed his season best of 6-08.75 attained at the Texas Relays on April 4^th.

In the women's pole vault, Kelsey Wilson eclipsed the 12-foot barrier for the first time when she cleared 12-01.50 for fourth place. This mark also breaks the school record of 11-07.75 she set twice this year.

Michael Carter and Daniel Rodriguez finished third and fourth in the men's shot put, respectively, with Rodriguez setting a new season best of 51-02.25.

The Lady Texans kicked the first running event of the day, the 4x100 meter relay, by running a season best in the event. The team of Edina Brooks, Shawna Anderson, Nicquel Thomas, and Allysha Wilson got the baton around the track in 45.51 seconds, besting their previous best time of 45.83 seconds set last week at New Mexico.

Sean Troop, Latoy Williams, Rodney Campbell, and Bryce Brown were narrowly defeated by Texas Tech in the men's 4x100 meter relay, finishing second to the Red Raiders in a time of 40.12 seconds. The same team ran 39.71 seconds last week in New Mexico.

Colleen Felix improved her season best to 14.14 seconds in the women's 100 meter hurdles on her way to a third place finish.

Deandra Knowles improved her national standing when she finished third in the 400 meter dash with a time of 55.47 seconds. Her previous best time in the event was 56.93 seconds from Oklahoma on April 25^th. Knowles' teammate, Angelle Miranda, finished fifth in a time of 56.16 seconds.

Sharif Webb qualified for the NJCAA Championships in the 400 meter dash when he ran 47.76 seconds on his way to a ninth place finish. This may have been the premier event of the meet as three athletes ran under 46 seconds, including former South Plains College standout Andrae Williams who won the event in a blistering time of 44.98 seconds in the first section. The time ranks Williams as the second fastest quarter miler in the world, just ahead of current SPC star Latoy Williams.

Nicquel Thomas and Allysha Wilson punched their tickets to the NJCAA championships as they ran their season bests in the 100 meter dash. Thomas finished with a time of 11.98, good for fifth place while Wilson was right behind at 12.01 seconds in sixth place.

Shakeeri Cole finished fourth in the women's 800 meter run, finishing with a season best time of 2:10.11.

Fred Samoei faced stiff competition in the men's 800 meter run when he finished second to former United States champion and 2004 Olympian Jonathon Johnson. Samoei stayed close but Johnson pulled away over the final 100 meters, crossing the line in a time of 1:48.41. Samoei's best time in the 2009 season is 1:48.16.

Edina Brooks improved her season best to 24.12 seconds in the women's 200 meter dash, finishing third in the race.

Gladys Chumba won the women's 5,000 meter run, crossing the line in 18:26.79, narrowly missing her season best of 18:26.41.

Javier Perez won the men's 5,000 meter run by 44 seconds, finishing with a time of 15:46.19.

The men's 4x400 meter relay team of Latoy Williams, Sharif Webb, Rodney Campbell, and Marcelis Lynch broke the school record when they won the event with a time of 3:06.29. Williams led the relay off with a smoking 45.8 seconds, Webb took the baton and rolled out a 46.8 second leg. Campbell and Lynch ran the final two legs in 46.4 and 46.9 seconds.

The group broke the record of 3:06.33 set at the Texas Relays April 4^th.

Overall the meet was a tremendous success as South Plains College won seven events, attained 18 new NJCAA qualifying marks, and set four school records.

Events that were won by Texans and Lady Texans at the TTU Invitational: women's javelin (Colleen Felix) women's 5,000 meters (Gladys Chumba), women's 4x100 relay (Edina Brooks, Shawna Anderson, Nicquel Thomas, Allysha Wilson), men's high jump (Wade Thornton), men's 5,000 meters (Javier Perez), men's 400 hurdles (Bryce Brown), men's 4x400 relay (Latoy Williams, Sharif Webb, Rodney Campbell, Marcelis Lynch).

Texans and Lady Texans attaining new NJCAA marks: Melinda Bendik (women's discus), Kelly Closse (women's discus), Colleen Felix (women's javelin, 100 hurdles), Kelsey Wilson (women's pole vault), Nicquel Thomas (women's 100), Allysha Wilson (women's 100), Edina Brooks (women's 200), Deandra Knowles (women's 400), Shakeeri Cole (women's 800), women's 4x100 relay, Daniel Rodriguez (men's shot put), Zach Morgan (men's discus), Sharif Webb (men's 400), Marcelis Lynch (men's 800), Stephone Beckford (men's 400 hurdles), Stephone Jordan (men's 400 hurdles), men's 4x400 relay.

New SPC records set at TTU Invitational: Melinda Bendik (women's discus), Colleen Felix (women's javelin), Kelsey Wilson (women's pole vault), men's 4x400 meter relay (Latoy Williams, Sharif Webb, Rodney Campbell, Marcelis Lynch).

South Plains College will return to action when they travel to Hutchinson, Kansas for the NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships set for May 21-23.