Pratt Community College track and field traveled to Shawnee, Oklahoma to compete in the Oklahoma Baptist Open. The Beavers were one of the few NJCAA schools at the open and competed well against runners from the NCAA division II level through NAIA ranks.
On the women's side, Anysia Romain and Madeline Jacobsen led the Beavers in the 400m dash. Romain ran a 1:00.90 while Jacobsen trailed just behind at 1:01.72. Jacobsen also exceled in the 400m hurdles finishing with a time of 1:08.99. In the 100m dash Tavaija Bennet placed in the top 10 of a field of 24 runners with a time of 12.71. Cayla Smither took fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 10.09m.
For the men, Robert Maston finished second out of a field of 19 runners in the 400m dash with a time of 49.26. Jevony Murray and Dorson St. Phard took first and second in the 100m dash. Murray took first with a time of 10.83. St. Phard finished just behind Murray with a time of 10.84.
The Blue and White took three of the top five spots in the 200m dash. Murray led the way at 21.81 for second place. In fourth place was St. Phard at 22.12. Rounding out the top five was Maston finishing fifth with a time of 22.40.
Elijah Battle rounded out the top 10 in the 800m race with a time of 2:00.03. William Charles finished thirteenth in the 800m with a time of 2:00.57.
"I have to start by saying it was a pretty good meet from the entire team, top to bottom," head track and field coach Jamaal Barnes said. "We had a few snafus, but nothing that can't be ironed out. We are still a month away from the Region meet. Quite a few season's best from our athletes, starting with Jevony Murray, who has only been with us for a few months. He set a new season's best in the 200m with 21.81 and also won the 100m dash while anchoring our 4x100m team to victory in their first outing of the season. A few others set personal or season bests in the 200m as well. The 800m was another race where we saw a lot of improvement and season best times. Each one of our 800m guys set a season best and Ashley Marcelin even provided us with a career best effort this week in the race. Aminata Kenyawani and Anastasia Graves put together season's best efforts in the 1500m, and I'm expecting those times to continue to drop as we go on. Another young lady who had a big day for us was Tavaija Bennett, who finished 8th in the 100m while also performing a lifetime best in the 200m dash. Extremely proud of this bunch!"
PCC track and field next compete in the Wichita KT Woodman Classic on April 13 and 14. The day long Classic starts at 10 a.m. both days.