TAMUC – Sports

 

OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

Lions pick up eight All-American honors as men place sixth, women place 29th at National Championships.

FINAL RESULTS

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce track and field teams claimed eight more All-American honors on Saturday to close out the 2018 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Lion men finished in sixth place in the team race with 37 points, while the Lion women placed 29th with 11 points.

Two Lion men were national runners-up in their event by extremely narrow margins. The Lion men also picked up a third place and a fourth place during the day. The Lion women earned a fifth-place finish, two sixth-place finishes, and an eighth-place mark.

In the men’s triple jump, DeVontae Steele was the national runner-up at 15.97 meters (52-4 ¾), establishing a school outdoor record. It is Steele’s sixth career All-American honor.

Rashard Clark was the national runner-up in the 200-meter dash with a time of 45.70 seconds.

The men’s 4×400 meter relay team of Gabriel Peterson, Josiah Dennis, Aaron Lecesne, and Rashard Clark placed third with a time of 3:07.84 in an extremely tight race.

Hudson Hall placed fourth in the men’s pole vault, clearing a height of 5.08 meters (16-8) in his first appearance at the outdoor national meet.

The women’s 4×400 meter relay team of Minna Sveard, Ro’Nisha Simpson, Joy Spann, and Kamryn McKee placed fifth with a school record time of 3:40.75.

Anitial’a Robins claimed her first career All-American honor in the women’s discus throw with a long toss of 49.36 meters (161-11).

McKee bettered her school record in the women’s 400-meter dash, placing sixth with a time of 54.06 seconds.

Svaerd was in the lead near the halfway point of the women’s 400-meter hurdles but took a minor tumble before finishing strong in a time of 1:02.54 for eighth place.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce track and field teams claimed eight more All-American honors on Saturday to close out the 2018 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Lion men finished in sixth place in the team race with 37 points, while the Lion women placed 29th with 11 points.

Two Lion men were national runners-up in their event by extremely narrow margins. The Lion men also picked up a third place and a fourth place during the day. The Lion women earned a fifth-place finish, two sixth-place finishes, and an eighth-place mark.

In the men’s triple jump, DeVontae Steele was the national runner-up at 15.97 meters (52-4 ¾), establishing a school outdoor record. It is Steele’s sixth career All-American honor.

Rashard Clark was the national runner-up in the 200-meter dash with a time of 45.70 seconds.

The men’s 4×400 meter relay team of Gabriel Peterson, Josiah Dennis, Aaron Lecesne, and Rashard Clark placed third with a time of 3:07.84 in an extremely tight race.

Hudson Hall placed fourth in the men’s pole vault, clearing a height of 5.08 meters (16-8) in his first appearance at the outdoor national meet.

The women’s 4×400 meter relay team of Minna Sveard, Ro’Nisha Simpson, Joy Spann, and Kamryn McKee placed fifth with a school record time of 3:40.75.

Anitial’a Robins claimed her first career All-American honor in the women’s discus throw with a long toss of 49.36 meters (161-11).

McKee bettered her school record in the women’s 400-meter dash, placing sixth with a time of 54.06 seconds.

Svaerd was in the lead near the halfway point of the women’s 400-meter hurdles but took a minor tumble before finishing strong in a time of 1:02.54 for eighth place.

MEN’S TEAM TOP TEN

1	Texas A&M-Kingsville	65
2	Ashland (Ohio)	51
3	Tiffin (Ohio)	50
4	St. Augustine’s (N.C.)	42
5	Grand Valley State	39
6	A&M-COMMERCE	37
7	Academy of Art (Calif.)	34
8	Pittsburg State (Kan.)	31.5
9.	Angelo State	26
10	Colorado School of Mines	23
	Chico State (Calif.)	23

LIONS EARNING POINTS AT THE 2017 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEN

CHAMPION	Florian Obst	Decathlon	8,005 pts *
Runner-Up	DeVontae Steele	Triple Jump	15.97m (52-4 ¾) *
Runner-Up	Rashard Clark	400 Meter Dash	:45.70
Third Place	Peterson, Dennis, Lecesne, Clark	4×400 Meter Relay	3:07.84
Fourth Place	Hudson Hall	Pole Vault	5.08m (16-8)

WOMEN

Fifth Place	Svaerd, Simpson, Spann, McKee	4×400 Meter Relay	3:40.75 *
Sixth Place	Kamryn McKee	400 Meter Dash	54.06 *
Sixth Place	Anitial’a Robins	Discus Throw	49.36m (161-11)
Eighth Place	Minna Svaerd	400 Meter Hurdles	1:02.54

 

OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

Lion 4×400 relay teams qualify for finals; A&M-Commerce puts five entries in running finals.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Following the decathlon National Championship of Texas A&M University-Commerce’s Florian Obst, both the men’s and women’s 4×400 meter relay teams qualified for the finals at the 2018 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

In the men’s race, the foursome of Gabriel Peterson, Josiah Dennis, Aaron Lecesne, and Rashard Clark won their heat and notched the fastest qualifying team in the field at 3:08.08. It is the fourth Lion combination to go under 3:09 this season.

In the women’s race, the quartet of Minna Svaerd, Ro’Nisha Simpson, Joy Spann, and Kamryn McKee qualified for the final with a time of 3:41.58, which is the fifth-fastest qualifying mark.

Malcolm Woods narrowly missed the 200-meter dash finals with a time of 21.14 seconds, just four hundredths out of contention. Chelsea Cheek placed 16th in the women’s high jump, clearing 1.63 meters (5-4 ¼) and Jasmine Roberts placed 18th in the women’s triple jump at 11.81 meters (38-9).

With Obst’s decathlon win and ten team points, the Lion men tied for ninth, with 14 events still to score Saturday.

Saturday’s action for the Lions will feature three field events and five running finals.

SATURDAY SCHEDULE – All Times Eastern
12:30 p.m. – Hudson Hall – Men’s Pole Vault
12:45 p.m. – DeVontae Steele – Men’s Triple Jump
4 p.m. – Anitial’A Robins – Women’s Discus Throw
4:25 p.m. – Rashard Clark – Men’s 400 Meter Dash
4:35 p.m. – Kamryn McKee – Women’s 400 Meter Dash
5:40 p.m. – Minna Svaerd – Women’s 400 Meter Hurdles
7 p.m. – Men’s 4×400 Meter Relay
7:10 p.m. – Women’s 4×400 Meter Relay

 

OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

 

#LetsGoFlo! Obst repeats as National Champion in the decathlon with record-breaking 8,005-point performance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Texas A&M University-Commerce graduate student Florian Obst repeated as the National Champion in the decathlon at the 2018 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, doing so in record fashion.

The native of Emmering, Germany, scored 8,005 points to set a new A&M-Commerce and Lone Star Conference record in the two-day event. He became only the second Division II student-athlete, to break the 8,000-point barrier and the first to do so since 1985.

Obst had the top mark in six of the ten disciplines in the decathlon and had the second-best mark in two others. He had a 691-point margin of victory.

Obst is the first Lion since USTFCCCA Division II and A&M-Commerce Hall of Famer Agapius Amo in 1986 to win two outdoor national championships. Samson Obwocha is the only other Lion to win two Division II outdoor national championships, doing so in 1985.

He is the first Lion to repeat as a National Champion in consecutive seasons since James Baird won the NAIA long jump national championship in 1958 and 1959. Charles Holding is the only other Lion to win consecutive national championships, winning three NAIA national championships in the high jump from 1952-54.

Obst’s 8,005 points better his previous school record by 324 points. His Friday total was boosted by a personal best in the javelin throw.

He is only the fifth collegian in all divisions to break the 8,000-point barrier.

THURSDAY
Obst quickly took a commanding lead in the event by claiming top points in the first three disciplines. He scored 922 points with a personal best of 10.73 seconds in the 100-meter dash, followed by 869 points for 7.23 meters in the long jump, and 805 points for 15.25 meters in the shot put.

He scored 705 points for clearing 1.89 meters in the high jump and closed out the opening day with 890 points for a time of 48.40 seconds in the 400-meter dash.

FRIDAY
Obst took top points in the first three events of the day once again. After a disappointment in the hurdles at the 2018 Indoor national meet, Obst scored 884 points in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.72 seconds.

He won the discus throw and scored 748 points with a toss of 44.08 meters, then was the only athlete to clear 4.75 meters in the pole vault, scoring 834 points.

Obst then set personal bests in the final two disciplines of the day to claim his record-breaking title. He scored 709 points in the javelin throw with an all-time best toss of 58.11 meters.

The German then set a new personal best time of 4:46.59 in the 1,500-meter run, besting his previous top time by nearly 10 seconds. After collapsing in exhaustion after crossing the finish line, the Commerce crowd erupted as they announced his final score of over 8,000 points.