Meet Results / WT Performance Chart
 
Photo Gallery (by Brian Barrett)

*All times stand with possibility of altitude and/or track size conversion when considered for national qualification (Lubbock, Texas 3,256 ft.)
 
LUBBOCK, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's and women's track & field teams capped off the 2015 Masked Rider Open this weekend in record-breaking fashion, tearing down two Lone Star Conference marks along with four school records. In the process, WT set 10 new or improved provisional marks on the weekend.
 
Each of those record breaking performances came on Friday. Senior Michaela Johnson and sophomore Holly Cunigan would put their names on the Lone Star Conference all-time leaderboard with performances in the women's 5000m and shot put events, respectively. Additional school records were broken by juniors Lorenzo Johnson (men's 55mH) and Shanice Cameron (women's 55m).
 

After having last weekend off due to inclement weather, the Buffs and Lady Buffs traveled back to Lubbock for a second-straight meet at Texas Tech this weekend and competed in the annual Masked Rider Open. Multi events began the meet Thursday, Jan. 29, while regular events commenced earlier Friday afternoon. Twenty-seven teams were represented at the meet this weekend.
 
"I'm really proud of the way we competed this weekend," stated head coach Darren Flowers. "That's what it's all about and as long as we focus on giving great effort every week, we will achieve great things this year."
 
Saturday's action in the final day of the meet began with field events on the lower level. WT had two excellent provisional qualifiers in the triple jump who set solid marks simultaneously. First sophomore Malika Ouedraogo came just .01m away from an automatic bid to nationals as she cleared 12.41m (40'-8.75"), good enough for third place and a distance that should just about guarantee a return trip to the Indoor National Championship. On the men's side, junior Benoit Nadin finished third as well with a 14.57m (47'-9.75") jump.
 
To start things off on the track, Cameron had another excellent day with her first showing in the women's 200m this season. She placed fifth in the event with a provisional qualifying time of 24.80*. Senior Josh Helom then bumped up his provisional qualifying time in the men's 400m to 48.54*, finishing 11^th overall.
 
Capping off the meet with the final provisional time was the Buffs' 4x400m relay team consisting of junior Damien Bourguin and seniors Tommy Curry, Triedecio Davis, and Helom. The squad finished fourth overall with a time of 3:16.15.
 
The Lady Buffs' top 4x400m relay team of the day finished in seventh place, running a time of 3:52.75. That group consisted of seniors Sharon Kwarula and Rhemecka Graham, freshman Sommer Wilder, and junior Alba Casanovas.
 
Additional top-eight finishes for the men on Saturday included senior Baptiste Moreu (seventh, 800m), freshman Geoffrey Kipchumba (third, mile), senior Armando Rueda (fourth, mile), junior Michael Schaeffer (eighth, mile), and junior Zach Weatherly (eighth, weight throw).
 
Friday Recap
 
Shanice Cameron and Lorenzo Johnson began their WT careers two weeks ago by breaking school records in the 55m and 55m hurdles events, respectively. On Friday evening at the Masked Rider Open, the two transfers rewrote their own record-breaking marks, not once, but twice each. Senior Michaela Johnson and sophomore Holly Cunigan would then set new school records and LSC records as well as WT picked up five new or improved provisional marks in day two of the event.
 
Lorenzo Johnson started things off for WT with his performance in the men's 55m hurdles. After breaking the school record two weeks ago in Lubbock with a 7.41, he dropped a 7.37 with a first place finish in the semifinal heat. Johnson would go on to break his own record a second time in the finals, going 7.35* to increase his provisional qualifying time further. He would finish second overall in the event. Freshman Vance O'Rear would add an eighth place finish in the event's finals and ran a 7.62, a time that should convert to a 60mH provisional qualifier as well.
 
Cameron would follow suit with an outstanding showing in the women's 55m event. At the Texas Tech Open on Jan. 16, in her WT debut, Cameron broke the school mark with a 7.14 time. On Friday, she would improve that time to 7.10 in the preliminaries. Cameron would then hit 7.06*, improving her provisional time, in the semifinal heat. She would go on to place fifth overall in the finals with a 7.11.
 

The Lady Buffs would tear apart two more school records that also set new LSC bests before the night was over. Michaela Johnson would do so with a clocked time of 17:51.25 in the women's 5000m, breaking the mark on its own; however, with altitude conversion, her final time in the books will be a 17:37.31*. Johnson would finish second in the field.
 
The final event of Friday evening to wrap up day two's competition was the women's shot put. Cunigan started off the year well in the event two weeks ago, throwing a 13.62m toss to put her name in the books, but tonight improved that provisional distance to 14.03m (46'-0.50"), just beating the previous LSC record of 14.02m.
 
Also improving his provisional mark was Weatherly who placed third overall in the men's shot put competition. He threw 16.64m (54'-7.25") in the event.
 
Other top-eight finishes for the Buffs on Friday included junior Zach Daniel (fifth, 5000m), junior Michael Barnett (eighth, 5000m), senior Kemarki Absalom (seventh, LJ), freshman Joseph Boyd (T-sixth, SP), junior Tate Bartlett (eighth, SP).
 
For the Lady Buffs, additional top-eight placings on Friday included junior Alba Casanovas (fifth, 600y) and senior Emma Love (fourth, 5000m).
 
This weekend's trip to Lubbock was the second of four during the indoor season and second of six for the entire track & field season (indoor & outdoor combined) for WT. The Masked Rider Open was held as usual at the Athletic Training Center ("The Bubble"), a facility in its final year of use on campus. All times will be standing with the possibility of altitude and/or track size conversion when considered for national qualification as the facility sits at 3,256 ft. elevation.
 
WT will be back in action next weekend as it travels to Albuquerque, N.M. to compete in the New Mexico Collegiate Classic. The event will be held on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6-7, in the Albuquerque Convention Center and will be hosted by the University of New Mexico. Meet information and a tentative schedule can be found on www.GoBuffsGo.com via the men's and women's track & field schedule pages. More information on the meet will be posted in the days leading up to the event and can also be found by following @WTAMUTrackXC on Twitter.