LeTourneau University – Sports

 

MEN’S TRACK

LAKE CHARLES, La. – In just their second meet in school history, the LeTourneau University men’s track and field team picked up ten top-eight finishes and had two-top three finishes at the McNeese State University Indoor Invitational Number 2 in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Friday, January 26th.

There were no team scores recorded in the event, but the YellowJackets were able to pick up the seven top-eight finishes competing against mostly NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II schools. Belhaven University and Louisiana College were the other two NCAA Division III schools competing on Friday while also representing the American Southwest Conference.

“We had a good day and saw lots of improvement throughout,” said head coach Don Hood in a post-meet interview. “I was very proud of how we competed and how much better the kids performed in their second meet of the year.”

LeTourneau’s top-three finishes would come from Arvin Hrushka in the high jump (1.73 meters, 5 ft, 8 in.) along with Alex Hindman in the pole vault (4.40 meters, 14 ft. 5.25 in.). Finishing right behind Hrushka in the high jump was Michael Brooks in fourth (1.73 meters, 5 ft. 8 in.) while Keishaun McMillian made a .71 meter improvement in the long jump from his last time out to finish sixth (5.01 meters, 19 ft, 8.75 in.).

Hrushka’s second top-eight finish of the day came in the 55-meter hurdles (9.37) as LETU had a total of three athletes finish with multiple top-eight finishes. Nate Berlandier recorded two seventh-places with his top finishes of the day. They came in the long jump (5.55 meters, 18 ft. 2.50 in.) and triple jump (12.58 meters, 41 ft, 3.25 in.) while Austin Parrish (pole vault, 4.20 meters, 13 ft, 9.25 in.) also earned a seventh-place finish. LeTourneau’s top-eight finishes would be rounded out with eighth-place finishes by McMillian in the triple jump (11.98 meters, 39 ft, 3.75 in.) and Nathan Glastetter in the 800 (2:08.90).

Also competing in track events throughout the day was Daniel Bucher (800 meters, 2:17.79) and Michael Field (Mile run, 4:48.75) as well as Field (3,000 meters, 9:41.05) and Austin Coblentz (3,000 meters, 10:29.99). LETU’s only other track result came in the 55 meters with Berlandier recording a time of 7.02.

In field events, Judson Iverson (9.23 meters, 30 ft, 3.5 in.) and Hruskha (8.16 meters, 26 ft, 9.25 in) each competed in the shot put. Steven McDonell (10.81 meters, 35 ft, 5.75 in.) and Adrik Kling (10.26 meters, 33 ft, 8 in.) each took part in the weight throw.

Next week will see LETU return to action in Texas when the YellowJackets head west for the first time this year when they take part in the Texas Tech University Invitational. The meet, which will be in Lubbock, Texas, will be February 2 and 3.

 

WOMEN’S TRACK

Crystal Jones | Kirstiana Welch

LAKE CHARLES, La. – Behind top-three finishes from senior Crystal Jones in the long jump and freshman Kirstiana Welch in the 3,000 meters, the LeTourneau University women’s track and field team recorded a total of seven top-eight finishes. That goes along with multiple personal bests at the McNeese State Indoor Invitational Number 2 in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Friday, January 26.

There were no team scores recorded in the event, but the YellowJackets were able to pick up the seven top-eight finishes competing against mostly NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II schools.

“We had a good day and saw lots of improvement throughout,” said head coach Don Hood in a post-meet interview. “I was very proud of how we competed and how much better the kids performed in their second meet of the year.”

LETU’s first top-three finish of the day came from Jones with a school record leap of 5.00 meters (16 ft., 5 in.) while Welch would run the 3,000 meters for the first time in school history while recording a time of 11:45.01. Alexis Segura (5th, 11:55.59) and Bridey Davis (8th, 13:34.66) joined Welch in the 3,000-meter run to give LeTourneau three top-eight finishers in the race while senior Kennedy Keer picked up a sixth-place finish in the 600 meters with a time of 1:53.63. Freshman Claire Burson added LETU’s second top-eight finish in the long jump with a seventh-place finish (4.38 meters, 14 ft, 4.5 in.) while Segura added an eighth-place finish in the mile (5:51.91) to round out the top-eight finishes.

Just missing out on a top-eight finish was Tori Field, who finished ninth in the 55-meter hurdles (10.51) while Ro Galloway also finished ninth in the long jump (4.27 meters, 14 ft, 0.25 in.). Rebekah Stevenson made great strides in the weight throw, finishing with a mark of 9.83 meters (32 ft., 3 in.) which beat her personal best by over two meters and also competed in the shot put for the first time (7.75 meters, 25 ft, 5.25 in.).

Other events that had LeTourneau athletes today included the 200 meters with Galloway who recorded a time 28.12 and the 400 meters which saw three YellowJackets (Keer, 1:07.11, Burson, 1:09.13, and Lexi Funk, 1:10.53).

LETU will return to action in the Lone Star State next weekend with the Texas Tech University Invitational, which is scheduled to take place in Lubbock, Texas February 2nd, and 3rd.

Matt Kinney
Sports Information Director