Texas Border Business
COLLEGE STATION – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) track & field teams opened the 2020 indoor season by breaking two program records and a meet record on Friday at the Ted Nelson Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M, at Gilliam Indoor Track & Field Stadium at McFerrin Athletic Center.
Sophomore Alexandrea Hurst shattered the program and meet records in the shot put with a mark of 15.61 meters. The previous program record was 15.31 meters, set by teammate Samariae Bonds, now a sophomore, last season. The previous meet record was 14.94 meters, set by Kristine Hanks of Sam Houston State in 2017. Bonds surpassed the former meet record as well, coming in second with a throw of 15.06 meters, the fifth-best in program history.
Bonds added a weight throw of 17.48 meters, the fourth-best in program history, to finish fourth.
Freshman Ackeem Gordon had a big collegiate debut, breaking the program record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.94 seconds in the preliminaries. He followed that up with a 6.96 in the final, tied for the third-fastest time in program history.
Senior Paul May won the shot put with a throw of 16.25 meters, the third-best in program history.
Junior Abraham Chirchir won the 3,000-meter run by finishing in a time of 8:33.02, the seventh-fastest time in program history.
Senior Idatonye Cheetham-West had a strong start to her season, recording the fifth-best long jump in program history by placing fifth with a distance of 5.87 meters. She followed that up with a 7.72 in the 60-meter dash preliminaries, the seventh-fastest time in program history, and a 7.80 to place sixth in the finals, tied for the 10th-fastest time.
In his collegiate debut, freshman Torry Holmes recorded the third-fastest 60-meter hurdles in program history, placing seventh with a time of 8.33 in the preliminaries and then earning a point by finishing eighth with an 8.89 in the finals.
Sophomore Brownsville Veterans alum Max Carmona recorded the fifth-fastest 800-meter run in program history, placing second with a time of 1:53.95.
In their collegiate debuts, freshmen Mystique Brown and Tamara Woodleyrecorded the 10th-fastest times in program history in their events, with Brown running a 25.29 200-meter dash and Woodley running a 57.61 400-meter dash.
As a team, the women finished fourth out of 18 while the men came in fourth out of 17.
UTRGV is back in action on Jan. 25 at the Texas A&M Invitational.
Team Results
Women
1. Northwestern State, 88
2. North Texas, 76.5
3. McNeese State, 70
4. UTRGV, 48
5. Texas A&M, 45
6. Louisiana, 43.5
7. Prairie View A&M, 41
8. Incarnate Word, 36.5
9. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 36
10. Barton County Community College, 33
11. Louisiana Monroe, 23
12. Lamar, 21
13. Houston Baptist, 16.5
14. adidas, 10
15. Texas Southern, 9
16. UT Tyler, 8
17. Texas A&M-Kingsville, 2
18. Western Texas, 0
Men
1. Louisiana, 94
2. Barton County Community College, 71
3. North Texas, 62
4. UTRGV, 56
5. Northwestern State, 52
6. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 38
7. Houston Baptist, 36
8. McNeese State, 32.5
T-9. Lamar, 32
T-9. Prairie View A&M, 32
11. Incarnate Word, 31
12. Louisiana Monroe, 27
13. Texas Southern, 17.5
T-14. Texas A&M, 13
T-14. UT Tyler, 13
16. Western Texas, 10
17. Texas A&M-Kingsville, 6
UTRGV Results
Field Events
Women’s High Jump
11. Charlize De La Garza, 1.58m
Women’s Long Jump
4. Idatonye Cheetham-West, 5.87m (5 points)
•Fifth-best in program history
18. Zarrey Sams, 5.35m
25. Elizabeth Ortiz, 5.15m
Men’s Long Jump
24. Jaymison Bernier, 6.26m
27. Sean Skaugen, 6.00m
Men’s Weight Throw
4. Paul May, 15.94m (5 points)
5. Michael Gonzalez, 15.81m (4 points)
8. Ricardo Espinoza, 15.06m (1 point)
10. Sky Tatum, 14.96m
15. Aaron Williams, 13.49m
Women’s Shot Put
1. Alexandrea Hurst, 15.61m (10 points)
•Program record
•Meet record
2. Samariae Bonds, 15.06m (8 points)
•Fifth-best in program history
•Second-best in meet history
12. Taylar Kregness, 12.17m
15. Brittany Cantu, 11.88m
Women’s Weight Throw
4. Samariae Bonds, 17.48m (5 points)
•Fourth-best in program history
7. Alexandrea Hurst, 16.34m (2 points)
12. Juvae Williams, 15.52m
17. Brittany Cantu, 14.66m
Men’s Shot Put
1. Paul May, 16.25m (10 points)
•Third-best in program history
5. Michael Gonzalez, 14.88m (4 points)
10. Ricardo Espinoza, 13.91m
14. Sergio Tijerina, 13.73m
15. Aaron Williams, 13.01m
Women’s Triple Jump
17. Charlize De La Garza, 10.34m
Men’s High Jump
7. Noah Trevino, 1.94m (2 points)
17. Mauricio Campos, 1.84m
Track Events
Women’s 60-Meter Dash Preliminaries
7. Idatonye Cheetham-West, 7.72q
•Seventh-fastest in program history
20. Mystique Brown, 7.87Q
27. Zarrey Sams, 7.96
Men’s 60-Meter Dash Preliminaries
6. Ackeem Gordon, 6.94q
•Program record
Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles Preliminaries
26. Eleanor Arndt, 10.12
28. Jasmyn Tulloch, 10.23
32. Elizabeth Ortiz, 10.75
Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles Preliminaries
7. Torry Holmes, 8.33q
•Third-fastest in program history
14. Sean Skaugen, 8.52
17. Wesley Franklin, 8.71
Women’s Mile Run
5. Sierra Spinler, 5:16.48 (4 points)
15. Anahi Romo, 5:36.95
Men’s Mile Run
3. Ricardo Mendoza, 4:19.41 (6 points)
Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles Finals
8. Torry Holmes, 8.89 (1 point)
Women’s 400-Meter Dash
11. Tamara Woodley, 57.61
•10th-fastest in program history
21. Devon Goodwin, 1:00.54
31. Lisa Sanchez, 1:03.82
Men’s 400-Meter Dash
7. Mariano Hernandez, 49.39 (2 points)
29. Roel Renteria, 51.67
Women’s 60-Meter Dash Finals
6. Idatonye Cheetham-West, 7.80 (3 points)
•Tied for 10th-fastest in program history
7. Mystique Brown, 7.83 (2 points)
Men’s 60-Meter Dash Finals
8. Ackeem Gordon, 6.96 (1 point)
•Tied for third-fastest in program history
Women’s 800-Meter Run
17. Natalie Garza, 2:29.64
Men’s 800-Meter Run
2. Max Carmona, 1:53.95 (8 points)
•Fifth-fastest in program history
15. Miguel Escamilla, 2:00.18
Women’s 200-Meter Dash
10. Mystique Brown, 25.29
•10th-fastest in program history
22. Zarrey Sams, 25.92
29. Diamond Lilly, 26.30
Men’s 200-Meter Dash
20. Ackeem Gordon, 22.45
Women’s 3,000-Meter Run
12. Alma Villanueva, 11:02.34
13. Sharon Koima, 11:07.45
Men’s 3,000-Meter Run
1. Abraham Chirchir, 8:33.02 (10 points)
•Seventh-fastest in program history
7. Alex Munoz, 8:49.96 (2 points)
11. Juan Manzano, 8:57.10
Women’s 4×400-Meter Relay
8. Diamond Lilly/Natalie Garza/Elizabeth Ortiz/Tamara Woodley, 3:57.03 (1 point)
14. Jasmyn Tulloch/Devon Goodwin/Lisa Sanchez/Eleanor Arndt, 4:09.80
Men’s 4×400-Meter Relay
12. Mariano Hernandez/Max Carmona/Wesley Franklin/Sean Skaugen, 3:19.61
14. Roel Renteria/Miguel Escamilla/Ricardo Mendoza/Anthony Magallon, 3:24.73
Women’s 5,000-Meter Run
2. Anahi Romo, 19:03.93 (8 points)
Men’s 5,000-Meter Run
11. Edward Ramos, 16:30.96
 track & field teams opened the 2020 indoor season by breaking two program records and a meet record on Friday at the Ted Nelson Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M, at Gilliam Indoor Track & Field Stadium at McFerrin Athletic Center.){kind=link}