NORMAN, OK- The No. 4 West Texas A&M Buffs took the Lone Star Conference Championships by storm winning with 222 team points. The second place Angelo State scored the second most with 122 points, giving the Buffs a 100-point advantage.
Overall, the Buffs had 13 student-athletes make the podium including five first place finishes and seven personal bests on day two of the LSC Championships.
BREAKING RECORDS
William Amponsah broke the mens 3,000-meter LSC Championship record running in 8 minutes, 10.1 seconds to claim gold. The record had been standing since 2014 by New Mexico University athlete Isaiah Samoei. Amponsah lapped almost every competitor but two in the 15-lap race. The silver and bronze finishers were teammates
Adrian Legarreta (8:24.92) and
Enrico Oddone (8:25.07) who both ran personal bests in the race. The distance squad swept the podium and claimed 26 team points with the help of
Jay Hall also placing 7
th(8:41.51).
MAKING THE PODIUM
Eleven student-athletes earned either a gold, silver or bronze medal at the LSC Championships, including the distance team who swept the 3,000-meter race.
Gerard Bryant took first in two separate heptathlon events; 1,000m (2:26.61); high jump (2.01). Bryant broke his own school record in the heptathlon with 5,299 points and earning silver in the multis. He ranks ninth in the nation in the heptathlon and has a good chance of making indoor nationals.
In the sprints,
Isaac Botsio took gold in the 60-meter running 6.68 seconds.
Aziz Mohammed took first in the 800-meter at 1 minutes, 51.7 seconds where teammate
Prince Mcabelo followed in third at 1 minute, 51.9 seconds.
David Richards took
Calvin Allen was the sole mile runner for the Buffs as he placed second running in 4 minutes, 12.3 seconds. The senior ran his personal best in the event.
Luke Holcombe took gold in shot put throwing 17.84m, his third best throw in his career and his second medal on the weekend after winning bronze in the weight throw on Friday.
Ethan Hollinshead claimed his first LSC Championship medal throwing for bronze in the shot put going 14.82m. Freshman
Manuel Cuesta also claimed his first LSC Championship medal in the triple jump with a distance of 14.80m winning silver.
PERSONAL BESTS
In total, there were 12 personal bests for the Buffs over the two-day championship. Bryant had the most with two (shot put- 14.93m, high jump-2.01m).
David Richards ran his personal best in the 60m hurdles prelims in 8.05 seconds only to repeat in the finals on Saturday the exact same time. Following suit in personal bests were
Calvin Allen (Mile),
Adrian Legarreta (3,000m),
Enrico Oddone (3,000m),
Ethan Hollinshead (shot put),
Jon Tucker (shot put),
Korbin Preston (shot put),
Romet Vahter (long jump),
Jace Lynch (60m), and
Jerry Jakpa (60m).
TEAM FINISHES
(Place – Team - Points)
1
st- West Texas A&M – 222
2
nd – Angelo State – 122
3
rd – TAMU- Kingsville – 76
4
th – Oklahoma Christian – 61
5
th – UT-Tyler – 54
6
th – Lubbock Christian – 51.5
7
th – Dallas Baptist – 45
8
th – Eastern New Mexico – 23.5
9
th – Cameron – 6
COMING UP
The selections for the 2024 DII men's and women's indoor track and field championships will be released
Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. ET in a press release on NCAA.com.
The 2024 championships will take place Friday, March 8 through Saturday, March 9 at the Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kansas. Pittsburg State University will host the event. A total of 270 student-athletes per gender will qualify to the Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships through regular-season performances.
