Distance Runners Set the Standard Friday at Vanderbilt Invitational

NASHVILLE – Little Rock's distance medley relay team missed a school record by only 2.3 seconds but still claimed bronze, beating Arkansas State by over nine seconds, as Little Rock posted a record opening day at the Vanderbilt Invitational Friday in Nashville.
 
In all, the Trojans posted six marks on the day that rank in the top five in school history with another two marks ranking in the top 10.
 
The Maroon and Silver quartet of Andrew Payton, Juan Garza, Nicholas Newby and Spencer Cardinal ran 10:00.58 to finish third, just 2.3 seconds behind the school record time of 9:58.28 set back in 2008.
 
That time beat in-state rival Arkansas State (10:10.03) by over 13 seconds and also beat another former Sun Belt Conference foe, Louisiana, by over nine seconds. This marks the second straight week Garza has etched his name in the Little Rock record books after posting top-10 times in the 200m and 400m dashes last week.
 
Josh Beam clocked the third-best time in school history in the 5K, running 14:38.81 to finish 11^th overall. He was closely followed by Zach McPhee, whose time of 14:43.23 placed him 14^th while recording the fourth-best time in school history.
 
On the women's side, Ariana Garcia claimed the second-best time in school history in the 1,000m. Her time of 3:01.01 finished her 1.04 seconds away from a school record, placing her 20^th overall. Kyla Lochtefeld ran 3:06.62 to finish 25^th while recording the third-best time in school history while Keila Finnestand's time of 3:09.42 ranks fourth in school history, placing her 29^th in the race.
 
Matilda Horton, running in her first collegiate race, ran 17:52.32 in the 5K to finish 12^th, posting the ninth-best time in school history.
 
Just a week after recording a career-best time of 25.10 in the 200m, Landri Schreier improved upon that by 0.08 seconds as she ran 25.02 to post the seventh-fastest time in school history to place 10^th overall.
 
Gabby Ayiteyfio cleared 5-3.75 (1.62m) to tie for second in the women's high jump while Jayden Gilbert finished tied for fifth and Brenna Harris came in 10^th.
 
Action at the Vanderbilt Invitational concludes Saturday with field events starting at 10 a.m. and running events beginning at Noon with action being aired live on SECN+.
 
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 Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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