Lincoln tracksters break records at Invitational

PITTSBURG, Kan. - Lincoln's Ladonna Richards, Jhevere Hall and Diana Cauldwell won in record-breaking style Friday at the Pittsburg State Invitational.

Richards beat fellow Blue Tiger Chrisdale McCarthy by a split second in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 8.365 seconds to McCarthy's 8.369. Both those times beat the facility mark of 8.46 set by McCarthy on Dec. 5, 2015.

In the 800-meter run, Hall turned in the winning time of 2:10.22, while Monique Thompson placed fourth in 2:14.38. Hall's time was a facility record, breaking her own mark of 2:11.60, also set Dec. 5, 2015. Both Hall and Thompson met the provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships.

Lincoln's other record-breaking performance came in the triple jump, where Cauldwell won with a new facility mark of 12.34 meters, topping her own record of 12.11 meters set Dec. 5, 2015. Jonelle Campbell placed fifth in that event, posting a mark of 12.01 meters.

Cauldwell also took fifth in the long jump (5.60 meters).

The distance medley team of Thompson, Clark, Hall and Yanique Ellington took third (12:17.47), while Ellington also competed in the 200-meter dash, placing fourth (24.41, a provisional qualifying time).

Also at the Invitational, Missouri Southern's Melanie Bower (Linn High School) placed fifth in the pole vault (3.66 meters).

The Lincoln men, meanwhile, turned in nine top-eight finishes.

The highlight came in the 60-meter dash, where Roberto Smith placed third in a time of 6.74 seconds, which is an automatic qualifying time for the Indoor Championships.

Lincoln's highest finish of the day came in the 4x400-meter relay, where the team of Roger Blake, Faedeon Royes, Winston Edwards and Miguel Barton placed second in 3:13.18. That time, along with Wayland Baptist's winning time of 3:12.69, broke the facility record of 3:14.16 set by Emporia State on Dec. 5, 2015. Lincoln's mark is also a provisional qualifying time.

Royes also took third in the 400-meter dash with a mark of 48.16 that broke the old facility mark of 48.47 set by Blake on Dec. 5, 2015. Quintaveon Poole of Butler Community College won and holds the new record at 47.67.

Stallone Watson finished third in the 60-meter hurdles in 7.99. All of the times in the top four, led by the winning mark of 7.69 by Israel Nelson of Oral Roberts, broke the previous facility record of 8.11 set by Pittsburg State's Justice Burks on Dec. 5, 2015.

Owen Smith finished third in the triple jump with a leap of 14.46 meters, a provisional mark for nationals. Competing unattached, former Blue Tiger Wilbert Walker won the event with a mark of 15.91 meters, breaking the facility record of 14.52 set by Smith on Dec. 5, 2015.

Jeromia Riley had Lincoln's next-best finish of the day, taking fourth in the 800-meter run in 1:50.91. That mark, along with the winning time of 1:50.69 by Grayson Haws of Southern Nazarene, beat the facility record of 1:52.67 set by Riley on Dec. 5, 2015.

Orneldo Thomas finished fifth in the triple jump (14.33 meters, a provisional mark).

Blake was eighth in the 200-meter dash (21.63), where all of the times in the final beat the previous facility record of 21.74 set on Dec. 5, 2015, by Taysean Goodwin of Emporia State. Antwon Smith of Western Texas won in 21.04.

Also finishing eighth was Edwards in the 600-yard run (1:13.27).

The Blue Tigers will return to action Saturday at the Jim Green Invitational hosted by Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill.