Graham and women’s 4x400m relay leave Frisco with victories

Thursday, February 9

Frisco, Texas

All Day

Abilene Christian

Dunamis Sports Group Indoor Classic

Photo by: Jeremy Enlow

Graham and women’s 4x400m relay leave Frisco with victories

2/10/2017 9:29:00 AM | Track & Field

Meet Results

FRISCO, Texas - Abilene Christian sophomore Carnley Graham and the women's 4x400m relay of Jessica King, Kimone Green, Jamie Kennedy and Chartia Hurt were Abilene Christian's lone victors Thursday during the inaugural running of the Dunamis Sports Group College Classic, which took place at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Graham won the 5K ahead of 16 other runners in 17:43.27, beating out competition from a number of NCAA DI and DII schools including Texas Tech, Grambling, Southern Arkansas and Midwestern State. Graham led the race from wire-to-wire, and one mile into the race she had already began to lap the field with a healthy 20 meter lead.

Southern Arkansas' Claudine Blancaflor was a distant second in 17:54.98 and ACU's Sierra Bennett placed sixth with a personal best of 19:00.55.

The Wildcats scored their second win of the evening three events later when the women's 4x400m relay posted a time of 3:55.49. ACU led the entire way and topped runner-up Southern Arkansas (3:58.39) by close to three seconds. Rounding out the field were teams from Grambling, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, McMurry and Houston Baptist.

The two late victories pushed the ACU women into third place of 20 schools with 55 points, trailing only UT Arlington (117 points) and Texas Tech (59.25).

Green also scored 16 points as an individual running in the 200m and 400m. She was the runner-up to Kaina Martinez of Kingsville in both races, losing out on the 200m title by .16 seconds, 24.37 to 24.53, and the 400m crown by .32 seconds, 55.97 to 56.29. King was the eighth-place finisher in the 200m with a personal best of 25.09 that ranked her 10th on the school's top-10 performer list.

Four additional Wildcats made it into the track and field record book.

Junior Morgan Knight recorded the eighth best weight throw with a fifth-place distance of 17.00 meters, and freshman Annina Brandenburg registered the seventh-best shot put distance of 14.27m as she placed fourth.

Senior Reid Rivers became the fourth-ranked performer in the 3K with his fourth-place time of 8:36.61, and in the 200m dash, freshman Ryan Linton now ranks sixth after clocking a third-place mark of 21.67.

Overall, there were nine personal records posted by the Wildcats Thursday in addition to 18 top-eight showings.

ACU's men's team placed fifth of 18 schools with 48.5 points, finishing behind UT Arlington (67), Commerce (56), Sam Houston State (53.5) and Houston Baptist (49). Texas Tech finished 4.5 points behind the Wildcats in sixth.

The Wildcats' best showings on the men's side were runner-up finishes in the 400m and 4x400m relay. Rosen Daniel was edged by UT Arlington's Erik Martinsson for the 400m title, 48.24 to 48.44, and in the 1600m relay, the Wildcat team of Avery Williams, Samuel Garcia, Linton and Ryan Cleary finished three seconds behind Grambling (3:17.05) with a mark of 3:20.19.

Senior Sterlen Paul scored in two events for the Wildcats. He was seventh in the 800m at 1:57.19, and fifth in the mile at 4:21.31.

In the field events, ACU collected four points from pole vaulters Jaden Dement (4.75m) and Kyle Mann (4.60) and 10 points from its women weight throwers Lonnie Smith and Kayla Melgar. Smith followed up her school record-breaking performance from 12 days ago with a second-place distance of 17.79m, while Melgar placed seventh with a top effort of 16.05m.

Whitney Simmons of UT Tyler won the weight throw with an impressive launch of 19.34m.

The Wildcats return to action in less than two weeks for the start of the Southland Conference Indoor Championships, which will once again take place in Birmingham, Ala. from Feb. 22 to 23.

ACU Results from the Dunamis Sports Group College Classic
Women's 60m Dash
17.) Jessica King - 7.88 (PR)

Men's 60m Dash
11.) Ryan Linton - 6.93
46.) Wyatt French - 7.31
50.) Riley Ellis - 7.34

Women's 200m Run
2.) Kimone Green - 24.53
8.) Jessica King - 25.09 (PR and 10th ranked individual in school history)
24.) Jamie Kennedy - 25.90 (PR)
34.) Chartia Hurt - 26.19

Men's 200m Run
3.) Ryan Linton - 21.67 (PR and 6th ranked individual in school history)
26.) Rosen Daniel - 22.63

Women's 400m Run
2.) Kimone Green - 56.29
27.) Chartia Hurt - 1:00.13

Men's 400m Run
2.) Rosen Daniel - 48.44
10.) Avery Williams - 49.59
11.) Lee-Andrew Bloomfield - 49.75
15.) Samuel Garcia - 50.15

Men's 800m Run
7.) Sterlen Paul - 1:57.19

Women's 60m Hurdles
18.) Irene Akwitti - 9.37
26.) Taylor Yantis Woods - 9.51

Men's Mile
5.) Sterlen Paul - 4:21.31

Women's 3,000m Run
14.) Natalie Jackson - 11:03.34 (PR)

Men's 3,000m Run
4.) Reid Rivers - 8:36.61 (PR 4th ranked individual in school history)
12.) Ryan Cleary - 8:48.84
20.) Drew Cummings- 9:07.75

Women's 5,000m Run
1.) Carnley Graham - 17:43.27
6.) Sierra Bennett - 19:00.55 (PR)

Women's 4x400m Relay
1.) Jessica King, Kimone Green, Jamie Kennedy, Chartia Hurt - 3:55.49

Men's 4x400m Relay
2.) Avery Williams, Samuel Garcia, Ryan Linton, Ryan Cleary - 3:20.19

Women's Pole Vault
14.) Mackenzie West - 3.30m
15.) Sophie Morrow - 3.15m
17.) Hannah Newman - 3.15m

Men's Pole Vault
6.) Jaden Dement - 4.75m
8.) Kyle Mann - 4.60m
13.) Justin Haines - 4.45m

Women's High Jump
17.) Irene Akwitti - 1.53m
21.) Taylor Woods Yantis - 1.48m

Men's High Jump
T13.) Wyatt French - 1.85m
T13.) Riley Ellis - 1.85m

Men's Long Jump
9.) Wyatt French - 6.76m
21.) Riley Ellis - 6.44m

Women's Shot Put
4.) Annina Brandenburg - 14.27m (PR and 7th ranked individual in school history)
11.) Kayla Melgar - 12.48m
12.) Lonnie Smith - 12.25m
18.) Taylor Posey - 11.90m

Men's Shot Put
2.) Kai Schmidt - 16.49m (PR)
13.) Morgan Knight - 14.60m
17.) Joshua Hunter - 14.08m
21.) Ryan Simmons - 13.44m

Women's Weight Throw
2.) Lonnie Smith - 17.79m
7.) Kayla Melgar - 16.05m
14.) Taylor Posey - 14.61m

Men's Weight Throw
5.) Morgan Knight - 17.00m (PR and 8th ranked individual in school history)
13.) Ryan Simmons - 15.13m
16.) Kai Schmidt - 14.92m