HOUSTON and MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Jaelyn Tucker and
Nicholas Newby etched their names into Little Rock history as both Trojans broke school records on the final day of the Victor Lopez Classic Saturday.
Tucker was the first to break a record, jumping 19-3.5 (5.88m) in the women's long jump. Her mark passed teammate
Bria Allen's old record mark by an inch while registering an improvement of over eight inches from her previous personal best. Tucker now has the best jump in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Later in the evening, Newby became the first Trojan ever to clock a sub-1:50 time in the 800-meter run, setting a new school record time of 1:49.47. It is the first time in two years an Ohio Valley Conference runner has crossed a finish line before the 1:50 mark.
The Little Rock men's 4x100m relay team didn't just run the second-fastest time in school history as they clocked 39.53 Saturday, but it is the fastest time by an OVC relay team since at least the 2010 season. The squad of
Cogan DeRousselle, Taveion Neal,
Troy McKnight and
Cameron Jackson became just the third OVC relay team since 2010 to run a sub-40-second time while finishing second only behind Houston, a team that finished third at the NCAA Championships last season. Houston, who ran 39.00 Saturday, becomes this year's national leader with Little Rock ranking second in the country.
Little Rock's women's 4x100m relay team was equally impressive, also running the second fastest time in school history. The quartet of
Gabby Ayiteyfio,
Landri Schreier,
Takia Palmer and
Maliyah Holland posted a mark of 45.40 to finish fourth in the race. As of the end of the meet, Little Rock's women now rank 37
th in the country in the relay. S trier would also run the fifth-fastest time in the 200m as her mark of 24.37 placed her ninth at the meet.
Top marks weren't limited to the track for the Trojans. Freshman
Hayden Wilson's throw of 51-0.75 (15.56m) in the shot put ranks second in school history while
Dion Murombe jumped 49-3 (15.01m) in the triple jump to match
Jordan Wallace for second in school history. Murombe finished third in the meet.
Johnathan Jones barely missed a personal best and school record mark in the high jump but by clearing 7-0.5 (2.15m), Jones won the competition.
Deshawn Roberts placed sixth in the meet as he cleared 6-5.5 (1.97m), tying him for sixth in school history.
In the pole vault,
Brooklyn Marcee cleared 11-10 (3.61m) to register the fourth-best performance in school history while she finished seventh in the meet.
Ayiteyfio, used to being very busy on meet days, moved into fourth in school history in the javelin with a throw of 124-8 (38.00m) to place sixth in the meet while also running 14.58 in the 100m hurdles to move up to fourth in school history in that event as well.
Over in Magnolia, Arkansas at the Dan Veach Invitational,
Falon Short cleared 6-5.5 (1.97m) to win the high jump competition, putting him into a tie for sixth in the school record books.
A full list of athletes that placed themselves into the school's top-10 charts is below. Little Rock will take next weekend off to prepare for the Little Rock Invitational, set for April 6-7 at the Coleman Sports Complex in the Capital City. Friday's action (April 7) can be seen on ESPN+.
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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Athletes Updated Rankings Little Rock Top 10 Charts
#LittleRocksTeam
