Zach McPhee Smashes School Record at Gorilla Classic, Trio Exhibit Top Speed in Fayetteville

PITTSBURG, Kan. and FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Friday's game plan for Little Rock track and field was to divide and conquer. Consider that accomplished. Zach McPhee broke an 18-year-old school record in the 5K and Cameron Jackson became just the second Little Rock sprinter to clock a sub-6.70 time in the 60m as the Trojans competed at the Gorilla Classic and the Tyson Invitational in a split squad weekend.
 
McPhee clocked 14:36.37 in the 5,000m run, beating a school record by 45 seconds that was originally set back in 2005 by Scott Wietecha. Finishing eighth out of 65 runners at the Gorilla Classic hosted by Pittsburg State, McPhee raced to the best time a Trojan has ever ran. Spencer Cardinal was hot on his tail, running 14:52.80 for the 10^th-fastest time in school history as the junior finished 15^th.
 
That marks the fifth school record to be broken by the Trojan men this year, along with Nicholas Newby (800m), Sutton Manatt (pole vault), Desmond Frazier (shot put) and Matthew Fox (heptathlon).
 
Meanwhile in Fayetteville, Jackson bolted to a 60m dash time of 6.69 to register the fastest time ran by an Ohio Valley Conference sprinter since 2015 and the second-fastest time in school history. Finishing third in the qualifying round but scratching himself from the prelims, Jackson edged Florida's Jacory Patterson, a multiple NCAA record holder, by one-hundredth of a second.
 
Barely getting edged by Patterson by a mere 0.003 seconds was Taveion Neal, whose time of 6.70 ranks third in school history and placed him fifth in the qualifying round to propel him to the preliminaries, where he ran 6.70 to finish 12^th. Troy McKnight clocked 6.75 in the qualifying round to finish ninth.
 
On the women's side, Landri Schreier ran an OVC-leading time of 7.59, the third-fastest mark in school history, as she placed 17^th in the qualifying round. Schreier's time finished her three seconds faster than Ole Miss' Jayda Eckford, a Pan Am U20 silver medalist. Gabby Ayiteyfio clocked 7.68 to place 23^rd in the qualifying round.
 
Ryan Curington posted a season-best long jump to finish fifth at the Tyson Invitational. His mark of 24-3 (7.39m) moves him up to third in the OVC this season.
 
Back at the Gorilla Classic in Pittsburg, Little Rock's women ran 12:42.17 in the distance medley relay. The quartet of Ariana Garcia, Cayla Anthony, Kyla Lochtefeld and Keila Finnestad finished 13^th.
 
Action at both the Gorilla Classic and the Tyson Invitational continues Saturday.
 
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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