Mathis wins gold, sets two new program marks at Texas Relays

AUSTIN, Texas — Little Rock took a small portion of its outdoor track and field teams to Austin this weekend for the 97^th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, but they left a big mark by setting three new school records, including two by Aaliyah Mathis.
 
Mathis returned to her home state and made a big impression, winning the gold medal in the women's shot put while finishing sixth in the discus, breaking her own program records in both events. On Friday, the Humble, Texas native threw for 15.08 meters (49-5.75) to win the shot put, then followed it with a program-best throw of 50.47 meters (165-07) in the discus on Saturday.
 
Tyler Moore broke another school mark in the men's 400-meter hurdles, topping the previous best of 50.94 with a run of 50.82, finishing third in the event. Moore's record run topped his the school record he set just a week ago at Ole Miss.
 
Freshman Aaliyah Booker put her name in the school record book with a time of 1:02.49 in the 400-meter hurdles, good for the sixth-fastest mark in program history. Booker finished seventh in the event. Also, Gabriel Torres was seventh in the men's 100 meters with a time of 10.45, and Nick Newby was fourth in the men's 800 meters, clocking a time of 1:49.26.
 
Next for the Little Rock track teams is a split weekend between the Joe Walker Invitational for multi's at Ole Miss on April 4-5, and the Harding Invitational in Searcy on April 5. The Trojans host the Little Rock Invitational the following weekend, April 11-12.