Tech Runners Compete in the CSM Twilight Meet

Tech Runners Compete in the CSM Twilight Meet

The Northwest Tech Men's and Women's track team got their first taste of competition for the 2017 season on Friday and Saturday at the CSM Invitational in Golden, CO. 

Two women kicked off competition Friday night in the Long Jump for the Mavericks. Freshman Courtney Raab (BT, Arvada, CO) placed 14th of 17 in the Long Jump for the Lady Mavericks with a leap of 4.62m (15'2"). Sophomore Rohey Singhateh (BT, Atwood, KS) placed 6th of 14 with her 5.28m (17'4") attempt. Both women did a great job to represent for the Lady Mavericks.

On Saturday, both women again competed together in the 60m Dash. Raab finished in 18th of 21 with a time of 8.69 seconds. Singhateh tied the school record with a dash of 8.31 seconds. Raab also competed in the 200m Dash. She finished in 20th place of 22 athletes with a time 29.99 seconds. 

The Men kicked off their competition season with a first performance by Freshman Cullen Alexander (BT, Carrollton, GA) in the Shot Put. His put of 11.35m (37'3") was good enough to place 9th of 12 athletes. Also in the field events, fellow Freshmen Trent Leoffler (DT, Arickaree, CO) and Sadarious Carter (MA, Hawthorne, FL) had great showings in the Triple Jump and High Jump respectively. Leoffler finished in 8th place of 8 jumpers. His jump of 12.53m (41'1.5") was as good as two other athletes, but they placed ahead of him due to the length of their other attempts. Carter finished second of 11 athletes in the high jump. His leap of 1.90m (6'2.75") set a new indoor school record.

On the track, more records fell in the 60m Dash as well as the 200m Dash. Five Mavericks participated in the 60m Dash. Freshman Jake Williams (CGT, Cozad, NE) placed 28th of 29 participants in a time of 7.76 seconds. Sophomore Gabe Longworth (AT, McClave, CO) placed 26th in a time of 7.42 seconds. Carter finished in 25th place in a time of 7.34 seconds. Sophomore Richie Benson (CA, Conifer, CO) finished in 20th place in 7.26 seconds. The old school record of 7.31 seconds, held by Benson, was replaced by his new, albeit brief, school record of 7.26 seconds. Undergraduate Assistant Coach Lathaniel Jeanlouis (Tech Studies, New Iberia, LA), bested Benson's new record with a 7.07 run in the Prelims to qualify for the Finals. In the Finals, Jeanlouis improved his time to 7.01 seconds to place 6th

The 200m Dash was much the same story as the 60m Dash. Williams finished in 26th place of 27 with a time of 27.30. Freshman Brandon Wiggins (CSI, Houston, TX) placed 13th in 24.32 and Carter placed just ahead of him in 24.24. Benson came in one place higher than Carter to finish in 11th place with a 24.22 second run. This time, Longworth was the victim of a briefly held school record. Longworth finished in 8th place by breaking his own school record in a time of 24.05 seconds. However, Jeanlouis was quick to best Longworth's record with a new record of 23.78, finishing in 4th place.

The Middle and Distance events were somewhat affected by the altitude of Golden, CO. Of the 20 participants in the 400m Dash, three of them were Mavericks. Williams ran a 1:04 race, Freshman Omar Mendoza (CGT, Johnson, KS) finished in 15th with a 55.38, and Leoffler finished in 13th with a 55.27 second run. 

In the 800m race, Freshman Curt Richter (EN, Las Vegas, NV) placed 24th of 24 in a time of 2:29.36.  Fellow Freshman Arron Arteaga (WD, Goodland, KS) out kicked Sophomore Jamall Theodile (BT, New Iberia, LA) at the end of finish in 2:24.42 in 21st place head of Theodile's 2:25.69. This was the second race of the day for all three distance runners. Richter and Arteaga had previously competed in the 1-mile race. Theodile had competed in the 5000m run.

In the 1-mile race, Richter finished in 15th place of 17 in a time of 5:40.02. Arteaga finished in 14th place with a run of 5:31.06. In the 5000m, Theodile finished 4th of 4 in a time of 19:39.88. This was the first indoor 5000m run for the Mavericks, making Theodile the 5000m record holder. He is also the 5000m record holder in Outdoor Track as well as Cross Country. 

The final race of the day was the 4x400m Relay. This is always a highly contested relay and is an awesome way to end a track meet. The Mavericks entered two teams consisting of Longworth, Leoffler, Mendoza, and Benson on Team A and Jeanlouis, Carter, Wiggins, and Sophomore Shai Brown (CSI, St. Petersburg, FL) on Team B. Individual relay splits ranged from 53 seconds to 60 seconds. Team A was the faster of the two teams running a 3:43.83 placing 8th of 10 teams. Team B was 10th of 10 in a 3:53.38.

The Mavericks will be in action next at the University of Nebraska, Kearney Invitational on February 4th. They will be looking to improve on the new school records, break some previously unbroken records, become an individual record holders, as well as compete in the 600yd event that is unique to the UNK meet.