Little Rock kicked off the outdoor season in style, recording multiple top-three finishes and an NCAA Prelims qualifier to mark an impressive start to the campaign.
On a beautiful Saturday in the Bayou, the Trojans approached the meet as a key building block for the outdoor season, using it as an opportunity to find their rhythm early.
Freshman
Jeremiah Patton headlined the day with a standout performance in the 200 meters. He clocked a time of 20.68, a mark that has historically been strong enough to qualify for the NCAA Preliminary Rounds. Patton finished second overall in the event and moved into fourth place on Little Rock's all-time list.
"My first outdoor meet as a Trojan felt great," said Patton. "It was a good opportunity to get back into competition mode, represent the team, and see where I'm at this early in the outdoor season. There's always things to improve, but overall I'm proud of how I started. And qualifying for NCAA prelims this early means a lot. It shows that the hard work is paying off."
Freshman
Brianna Brinkley also made an immediate impact in her outdoor debut, placing second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.45. Her performance ranks seventh all-time in program history.
Newcomers continued to shine as transfer
Raine Jenkins and freshman
Jordan Morgan built on their strong indoor seasons. Jenkins placed second in the triple jump with a mark of 11.85 meters, while Morgan followed with a third-place finish at 11.59 meters.
Sophomore
Dedrick Richardson Jr., coming off a school-record performance in the triple jump during indoor season, impressed once again with a second-place finish in the long jump at 7.44 meters. Freshman
Cortlin Edgerly matched that mark to place third overall, with both athletes now tied for fourth all-time in school history.
The men's 4x100-meter relay team picked up where it left off last season, finishing third overall with a time of 40.73. The squad featured sophomore
Braeden Bell, freshman
Jeremiah Patton, junior
Matthew Tyeskie, and graduate
TaVieon Neal.
The Trojans will look to build on this momentum as the outdoor season continues.
"This was a great meet for us to kick off the outdoor season," said head coach
J.P. Behnke. "It was a smaller meet with excellent competition and beautiful weather. Jeremiah picked up where he left off after the indoor season, running two outstanding races and qualifying for NCAA prelims in the 200 meters."
Full results for the LSU Opener can be viewed
here.
Little Rock will be back in action quickly, with most of the team heading to Houston for the Prairie View A&M Relays. Meanwhile, the distance group will open its outdoor season in St. Louis at the WashU Distance Carnival.
For the latest information on Little Rock Cross Country/Track and Field, check out LRTrojans.com. You can also follow the team on social media at @LittleRockTFXC on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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