Charles, Wallenius Break School Records at Mt. SAC

NORWALK, Calif. – Anika Charles had the greatest sprinting day in the history of the Little Rock track and field program on Friday, breaking the school record in the 100 and 200 at the Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Relays. Noora Wallenius joined her in the record breaking, beating her own school record in the 5K as well.
 
Charles and Wallenius' excellent races were just part of a tremendous Thursday and Friday at Mt. SAC, as the Trojans posted seven different top-10 times in program history.
 
Charles started her record-breaking Friday with the best 100-meter run in the history of the program, setting a new school record with a time of 11.71 seconds. Charles beat out the record previously held by Pepper Foster and 11.75 seconds. Foster's record had stood since May 2008. In the race in California, Charles took 26th place overall.
 
Also competing in the 100 was Rickitha Hicks, who took 38th with a time of 11.84 seconds. Hicks' time was also the best in her career, beating her old mark by .05 seconds and improving her now-fifth-best time in school history.
 
A couple hours later, Charles was right back at the record breaking with the 200. She crossed the finish line in 24.08 seconds, .01 seconds better than the previous record. That mark, set by Cherri Boykins in 2000, was 24.09 seconds. Charles' previous best as a Trojan was 24.46 seconds just one week earlier at the Little Rock Open.
 
One more record fell on Friday night as Wallenius finished the 5K in third place with a time of 16:32.78. The freshman beat out her own school record by nearly 12 full seconds, as her previous best was 16:44.39 at the start of the outdoor season.
 
The top-10 times in school history started coming earlier than Charles and Wallenius' marks, though. The Trojans got great races in the 10K right off the bat from Carli Langley and Isaac Langley on Thursday night.
 
Langley took 13th place overall in her race, crossing the finish line in 36:21.53. That time beat out her previous best from earlier in the season and reset her second-best time in school history.
 
Lalang likewise broke into the top 10 all-time in Trojan history, finishing his 10K in 10th plac in a very competitive field with a time of 30:40.02.
 
On Friday, Zodani Francois turned in a 12th-place performance in the 110-meter hurdles. Francois came across the finish line in 14.48 seconds.
 
Shortly after that, Bless Dupeh put forth a 23rd-place performance in the 400. Dupeh's time of 55.06 seconds is almost a full second better than her previous best this year and moves her up to the third-best time in program history in the event.
 
Little Rock's big weekend of track and field continues Saturday as the California group competes at the Beach Invite and the rest of the team sees action in Conway at the UCA Open.