LAFAYETTE, La. – Good things come to those who wait. For a trio of Trojans on Friday, that old adage held true.
Little Rock's
Cameron Jackson,
Troy McKnight and
Taveion Neal posted three of the four times in the 100m dash prelims as action continued at the Sun Belt Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Home Bank Track Facility Friday evening in Lafayette.
RESULTS | PHOTO GALLERY
The three didn't let a three-plus-hour weather delay spoil the plan in place as Jackson (1
st), McKnight (3
rd) and Neal (4
th) led the way to Saturday's finals. The performance was no surprise to the Trojans, even it was a surprise to others.
"He doesn't look like a freshman, does he," the ESPN+ announcers said as Neal sprinted past his competition, winning his heat.
Jackson posted a prelims-leading time of 10.45 to set the stage for a 1-2 punch Saturday as he advances to the finals in both the 100m and 200m dashes. McKnight clocked 10.54 for the third-fastest time while Neal ran 10.59 for the fourth-best time in a prelims field of 35 sprinters.
"I think we did well considering the weather was up and down and we had a long delay," Jackson said of Friday's performance. "It [the delay] didn't affect me as much as I thought it would but once we got in the blocks and into the swing of things, that is when the mental battle began. I just kicked out of the blocks and took control of the heat."
Teresa Thomas also moved on to Saturday's finals as she matched her career best time in the 400m. Thomas ran 54.55 to match her personal best mark and her own third-best time in school history to place fourth in the prelims overall and advance to Saturday's finals.
While the sprinters were advancing, others were scoring.
Lindsey Hutcheson ran the sixth-fastest steeplechase time in school history to finish seventh overall, running 11:20.28.
In the multis,
Gabby Ayiteyfio scored for the women early in the day after registering 4,537 points in the heptathlon while
Jayden Gilbert just barely missed a scoring chance after posting 4,055 points.
On the men's side,
Ethan Sorrels posted the second-best decathlon score in school history as his 6,436 points earned a pair of team points for the Trojans while
Matthew Fox registered 5,909 to finish 12
th.
A pair of Trojans barely missed out on scoring team points as
Ryan Curington finished ninth in the long jump with a mark of 23-10.75 (7.28m) while
Jalen Black ran 48.29 to finish ninth in the 400m.
The Sun Belt Championships wrap up Saturday as field events begin at 11:30 a.m. with running events and the ESPN+ broadcast starting at 4 p.m.
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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