EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Unknown by the Ohio Valley Conference, Little Rock's
Sutton Manatt made his name known to all Thursday.
The pole vaulter – a freshman who missed almost the entire season after an illness – sent shockwaves throughout the league as he cleared 15-3 (4.65m) to post the second-best mark in school history and claim the gold medal. It marked the first time a Trojan has ever won a conference championship in the pole vault, coming on the first day of action at the Oho Valley Conference Championships.
It was just the start of an impressive day of marks for Little Rock's Team, which did better than expected across the board. The women's team scored 40 points – five more than expected – and sits in second place after the first day while the men's team totaled 21 points, four more than projected, and enter the second day in third place.
Little Rock was boosted by three new school records being set, including
Aaliyah Mathis' 159-3 (48.54m) throw in the discus to claim silver. Topping her previous record throw, Mathis finished second while
Alison Stephens threw 142-0 (43.29m) to finish fourth with
Allison Stigarll placing sixth, throwing 136-6 (41.60m).
Another school record fell when Gabbby Ayiteyfio launched the javelin 136-11 (41.74m) for a massive career-best throw and new top mark in Trojan history, placing fourth in the event and barely missing a medal.
Brenna Harris added a point with an eighth-place finish, throwing 107-0 (32.62m) to register the 10
th-best throw in school history.
Manatt wasn't the only Trojan freshman to turn heads in the pole vault.
Brooklyn Marcee cleared 12-3.75 (3.75m) to claim silver as she recorded the second-best mark in school history. That started a haul of 16 points in the event as
Ludovica Polini cleared 11-7.75 (3.55m) to finish fourth with
Lauren Hurrell placing sixth with a mark of 10-8 (3.25m).
Matthew Fox posted the second-best javelin throw in school history with a mark of 180-9 (55.09m) to finish fourth, an impressive performance considering the event followed Fox's five-event first-day portion of the decathlon where he registered three personal best marks, including a long jump mark of 23-6.25 (7.17m). He finished the day with nearly a 400-point lead in the decathlon, scoring 3,764 points at the halfway mark.
In the 10,000m run,
Spencer Cardinal clocked 32:10.24 to finish sixth and scored three points on the men's side while
Matilda Horton scored two points on the women's side, running 38:39.20 to finish seventh.
Setting the stage for more scoring later in the three-day championship meet, Little Rock advanced several Trojans in multiple events. The Maroon and Silver finished 1-2-3 in the 400m hurdles prelims as
Frankie Grey set a new school record as he blew away the competition with a time of 52.79.
Tyler Moore followed in second, running 53.49, while
Teylen Patterson's 54.02 time was the third-fastest in the field. All three will race in Saturday's finals. On the women's side,
Alexia Allen advanced as she finished fourth, running 1:03.77.
Little Rock speed was also on display in the 200m dash.
Troy McKnight led the men's prelims with a time of 21.42 while
TaVieon Neal ran 21.66 to finish fourth and
Cogan DeRousselle placed seventh, running 21.78. All three move on to Saturday's finals.
Then on the women's side,
Landri Schreier finished third with a time of 24.25 while
Takia Palmer clocked 24.86 to finish eighth. The duo will return to the track Saturday for the 200m finals.
Action in the OVC Championships resumes Friday morning with the decathlon resuming at 9 a.m. Field events get underway at 2:30 p.m. and running events begin at 5:30 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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