T-Bird Men Set Four School Records in Lubbock
The New Mexico Junior College men's track and field team competed at the Corky Classic in Lubbock, Texas Jan. 13-14.
The meet featured 13 athletes earning indoor national qualifying marks and four school records being broken.
Tapiwanashe (Carlie) Makarawu set a new school record in the 200m with his national qualifying time of 20.76.
Head coach Keith Blackwill said he was impressed with how the Zimbabwe native raced at the Corky Classic.
"Tapiwanashe (Carlie) Makarawu set a new school record for us in the 200m," Blackwill said. "He is now the NJCAA national leader in the 200m and had the fifth-fastest 200m time last weekend for all colleges."
Takudzwa (Donald) Chiyangwa nationally qualified by setting a school record in the 400m with a second-place finish of 47.01. Aymane El Haddaoui was a close third behind Chiyangwa, running a 47.41 national mark.
Tomas Vega recorded a national qualifying time of 8:30.22 to set the T-Bird school record in the 3000m and move him to second overall in the NJCAA 3000m indoor standings. German Vega was nipping at the feet of his brother in the race, posting a national standard of 8:30.26.
Evans Pololet finished the 1000m in 2:25.70 to be a national qualifier and set a new school record for the T-Birds. Dyimond Walker hit the national standard in the 600y with a time of 1:11.62. Jahvel Granville qualified nationally in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.07.
The 4x400m team of Chiyangwa, Makarawu, Walker, and El Haddaoui finished in 3:14.00 to earn a national qualifying mark and sit at third overall in the NJCAA in the mile relay.
In the field events, Kelsey Daniel led the way for the Thunderbirds posting a nation-leading triple jump of 51'10" to exceed the national measure. Daniel also hit the national qualifying mark in the long jump (24'1 ½").
Khybah Dawson is currently leading the NJCAA in the long jump with a national qualifying measure of 24'5". Pole vaulter Dalton Smith rounded out the field events at the Corky Classic with a national qualifying vault of 15'5 ¾", good for second in the NJCAA.
Coach Blackwill said he looks forward to seeing how the team improves as they enter the heart of the indoor season.
"The men competed well. We qualified 13 performances for the indoor national meet, which is good compared to last time when we only qualified three," Blackwill said. "I'm hoping we improve on all performances and as the season progresses so should the times."