PITTSBURG, KS – The West Texas A&M Buffs Track and Field team bring in a combined 15 team points on day one of the NCAA Division II National Championship held at the Robert W. Plaster Center is Pittsburg, Kansas. 
 
The distance medley relay team brought in eight points after claiming national runner-ups in the race. Individually, Joseph Oreva brought in four points from the long jump and William Amponsah had three from the 5,000-meter race. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The distance medley relay was the second to last race that saw four Buffs competing. The first leg was a 1,200-meter run (or 4 laps) that senior Louis Moreau took on. Moreau stayed in the top group throughout the four laps before handing the baton off to senior Malick Diop for the 400-meter second leg of the race. Diop was in third with the handoff before making his move to first with less than a 100-meters to go. He handed the baton to 800-meter runner Prince Mcabelo for the third leg. Mcableo was neck and neck with Adams State as the Buffs ran down the team in neon yellow. With one step behind the Adams State Grizzles, Mcabelo handed the baton off to the final leg and teammate Aziz Mohammed. Mohammed ran a full mile on the track and came in second place behind the Grizzlies. The distance medley relay team bested their previous time set earlier this season at the David Hemery Valentine Invite and today the Buffs set the new WT record running in 9 minutes, 42.6 seconds. 
 
Junior Joseph Oreva jumped to 24 feet, 6.25 inches (7.47m) to take 5^th place. Oreva's best jump came in his fifth attempt after he made the final eight of the competition. He brought in four team points for the Buffs. William Amponsah ran for the podium and came up with 6^th place and running the third fastest time in WT history in 13 minutes, 57.7 seconds. He brought in three team points. 
 
TOP 8 
Defending national champion, Isaac Botsio, will be back in the 60-meter finals to defend his title. Botsio ran for the 8^th spot in the finals going 6.72 seconds. Running just a second over in the 60-meter hurdles is Troy Whyte at 7.84 seconds. He placed third in his heat to make the finals tomorrow. 
 
Prince Mcabelo ran a season best in the 800-meter to place in the finals tomorrow. He barely missed out in the WT top-10 times running 1 minute, 50.6 seconds. Teammate Aziz Mohammed barely missed the finals running 1 minute, 51.8 seconds and finishing 11^th in the nation in the 800m. 
 
HEPTATHLON                  
Gerard Bryant and Romet Vahter competed in four events today in the 60-meter, long jump, shot put and high jump. Gerard claimed his highest finish in the shot put going for third throwing 14.61m. Vahter finished 7^th in the high jump hitting a 1.94m mark (6'4.25). Both Buffs still have a chance to finish on the podium. Currently, Bryant sits in 8^th with 3,053 points while Vahter is in 12^th with 2,885 points. The heptathlon will continue tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. CT with the 60-meter hurdles first followed by the pole vault then finishing with the 1,000-meter run.   
 
TEAM SCORE
The Buffs sit in 3^rd place after day one of competition with 15 team points. All final events will take place tomorrow, March 9^th with seven final events for West Texas A&M Buffs.