LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock women's track and field program clinched the team victory at the Little Rock Open, topping nine other schools in their sole home meet of the season. The Trojans won seven events on both sides of the roster, as the men finished as runners-up, and were highlighted by new school records by
Mia Dunning and
Johnathan Jones.
RESULTS | PHOTO GALLERY
Two Trojans broke school records to lead a strong overall showing by Little Rock.
Mia Dunning continues to reset her own mark in the hammer, winning with a throw of 180-9 (55.10m) that was better than the rest of the field by nearly 30 feet.
Johnathan Jones earned new school record of 7-1 (2.16m) to earn gold for Little Rock, becoming the first Trojan to surpass seven feet. Both Dunning and Jones also set facility records as the best-ever performances at the Coleman Sports Complex.
Aside from the hammer, Dunning also continues to develop in the shot put, where she took third with a throw of 44-0.75 (13.43). The mark is a new personal best and now fourth on Little Rock's all-time top performers list.
Her teammate
Alison Stephens, who took bronze in the hammer with a new personal best of 150-5 (45.84m), also claimed her own victory in the discus with a throw of 129-1 (39.36m) to conclude the day and secure the team win.
The women's jumpers were led by
Breya Clark, who earned gold in the triple jump with a mark of 39-1.75 (11.93m), just ahead of teammate
Rondaishia McNeal, who set a new best 37-5.25 (11.41m) for third. Clark finished second in the high jump with a new personal best of 5-4.50 (1.64m), which now sits fourth on the top performers list.
To wrap up the field events,
Avianna Trinidad won the pole vault, also hitting a new facility record of 11-2.25 (3.41m).
On the track,
Aaliyah Lacy reached a new personal best to win the sprint, moving up to fifth on the Little Rock top performers list. Lacy claimed a second gold in the 200m, coming in at 24.92. Theresa Thomas was not far off, clocking in at 25.25 to take third. In addition, Thomas set a new personal best to claim the 400m for herself in a time of 57.34.
The 400m hurdles was also a strong event for the women, as
Ka'Neisha Jackson and
Alexia Allen went 1-2 to dominate the competition. Jackson took first with a time of 1:03.55 while Allen crossed the line at 1:09.15, four seconds ahead of the next finisher.
On the men's side,
Dion Murombe had an impressive performance in the triple jump, winning the event with a mark of 48-4.50 (14.74m). He jumped three feet further than the next competitor, moving up to number two on the Little Rock all-time top performers list.
Also in the field events,
Ryan Curington made huge strides in the long jump, securing second overall with a mark of 24-11.25 (7.60m). With an improvement of over a foot from a few weeks ago, the freshman also moved up from sixth to second on the Trojans' all-time top performers list.
On the track,
Cogan DeRousselle showed up to take gold in the 100m as well as the 200m, which he won by nearly a full second in 21.71. The freshman barely edged out classmate
Cameron Jackson in the shortest sprint of the day, with the duo crossing the line at 10.66 and 10.67, respectively, for a pair of personal best times. DeRousselle also added a third-place finish in the 110m hurdles, with his time of 15.07 moving up to seven on Little Rock's all-time top performers list.
Spencer Cardinal set a new facility record in the 5000m run as the only man under 15 minutes, posting a time of 14:59.64 to win by an impressive 52 seconds. The other long race was the 3000m steeplechase, where
Aaron Soltmann took silver with a new personal best time of 10:10.64.
In the men's 400m race,
Jalen Black and
Phillip Anderson took silver and bronze, respectively. Black ran a 49.81 while Anderson was just seven hundredths of a second behind.
The men also saw success in the 800m, where Ricardo Banks paced himself to a new Coleman Sports Complex record time of 1:54.76.
Logan Nelson came in second with a time of 1:56.92 after a strong push in the last 100 meters to overtake a competitor by just hundredths.
Banks returned in the 4x400m relay to conclude the running events for the day, helping the team of Anderson, Black, and
Andrew Payton to a winning time of 3:25.45, five second ahead of Central Arkansas.
Next up on the schedule, the Little Rock track and field team will head north to Jonesboro to participate in the two-day A-State Red Wolves Invitational on Friday, April 16 and Saturday, April 17.
For the latest information on Little Rock Track & Field, make sure to check out
LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockTFXC on
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