
WACO, Texas - The South Plains College Texan and Lady Texan track and field team was having a stellar meet with one school record, seven first place finishes and 10 season bests before storms rolled into the area and forced meet organizers to cancel the remaining competitions.
Freshman Kadian Dunkley, running in only her second 3,000-meter steeplechase competition, began the evening session by smashing the Lady Texan record by nearly 40 seconds when she won the event with a time of 11:25.39.
Sophomore Tallam Kipruto followed Dunkley's performance up with another victory when he claimed first place in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in an NJCAA qualifying time of 9:24.38.
SPC then got their third victory in as many events when Angelique Lykes, Janelle Redhead, Nicquel Thomas and Jura Levy got the baton around first in the women's 4x100 meter relay in 45.51 seconds against competition such as Texas A&M and host Baylor.
Kemar Marsden, Devin Hill, Isaiah Gill and Troy Faulkner won the second section of the men's 4x100 meter relay with a time of 40.51 seconds. Two collegiate teams and an all-star team posted better marks in the third and final section to force the Texans to settle for fourth place in the event.
SPC did not have to wait long before gaining another victory as Lisa Forsberg and Shakeeri Cole led from the gun and swept the women's 800 meter run. Cole took the early lead and maintained it until the final turn when Forsberg surged ahead to take the victory with a season best time of 2:09.21. Cole also finished with a season best of 2:09.66 when she crossed the line second.
The men's 400 meter dash was split into two sections, a collegiate and an invitational. South Plains College dominated both, taking the first and fourth spots in the collegiate section and first and third in the invitational.
Troy Faulkner won the collegiate section when he crossed the line in a time of 46.65 seconds. Isaiah Gill took fourth in his first 400 meter dash of the season with a time of 47.42 seconds.
Rondell Bartholomew and Anton Kokorin took control of the first invitational section early and Kokorin had a slight lead entering the final straight, but Bartholomew used a late surge to take the victory in 45.28 seconds. Kokorin held on for second in the section with the stellar time of 45.52 seconds but fell to third overall after LaJerald Betters ran a quicker time in the second section.
Jura Levy nearly ran down Baylor's Tiffany Townsend at the line but came up just short when she finished second in the women's 100 meter dash final with a time of 11.68 seconds.
The rain really began to pour down during the women's 1,500 meter run, an event that featured Forsberg who won the 800 earlier. Results for the race as well as several field events were not released.
South Plains College will look for better weather and similar performances next week when they travel to Norman, Oklahoma for the OU Sooner Invitational on April 24th.
SPC Results from evening session of Baylor Michael Johnson Invitational
MEN
1st Tallam Kipruto 3K Steeple 9:24.38
4th Marsden, Hill, 4x100 relay 40.51
Gill, Faulkner
1st Troy Faulkner 400 - College 46.65
4th Isaiah Gill 400 - College 47.42
1st Rondell Bartholomew 400 - Invite 45.28
3rd Anton Kokorin 400 - Invite 45.52
1st Anthony May High Jump 6-06.75
--- Stormy Smothers High Jump NH
WOMEN
1st Kadian Dunkley 3K Steeple 11:25.39
1st Lykes, Redhead, 4x100 relay 45.51
Thomas, Levy
1st Lisa Forsberg 800 meters 2:09.21
2nd Shakeeri Cole 800 meters 2:09.66
11th Colleen Felix Long Jump 17-09.50
--- Kia Wansley Long Jump FOUL
7th Colleen Felix High Jump 5-03.00
--- Jona McGowen High Jump NH
--- Kristian Spencer High Jump NH
| Midland College at | 7:45pm |
| South Plains | CST |
| Texan Dome | |
| Midland College at | 5:45pm |
| South Plains | CST |
| Texan Dome | |