This past weekend the men’s and women’s indoor track team competed in the Lone Star Conference Indoor Championships in Lubbock, Texas. Harding sent 27 athletes to the competition.
West Texas A&M won the championship for both men and women. For the men’s competition, the Bisons scored 25 points on Saturday, concluding the second day with a total of 53. The men ranked sixth among the seventh schools that participated. On the first day of competition, senior Andrew Evans won the 5,000 meters with a personal best of 15 minutes and 20.48 seconds, and freshman Jacob McDonald broke again the Harding record in weight throw with a throw of 50 feet. He placed seventh and earned two points for the Bisons.
“We are in a very competitive conference and it feels good to go out and have the performances that we have had,” McDonald said. “We have a couple of weeks to get prepared before our first meet, and I feel that we will be more than ready to compete.”
On the second day of competition, in the 55-meter dash sophomore Corey Bassett placed third in 6.42 seconds and junior Donatella Luckett placed sixth in 6.52 seconds. The sprint duo earned nine of the 28 points that the Bisons scored on Sunday.
In the field events, junior Ryan Cagle finished sixth in the shot put with 47-03.50, and in the triple jump, freshman Andrew Dather ended fourth with a mark of 46 feet and 10.75 inches. Sophomore Demarcus Murphy got eighth place with 44-03.50.
On the women’s side, the Bisons scored 12 points on Saturday. In the 5,000 meters, freshman Amber Webb finished fourth place in 18 minutes and 23.37 seconds. Webb earned five points for her team.
“We have been training hard for this weekend,” Webb said. “We took this week easy to rest our legs so we would be ready to perform properly. Overall, we had a pretty good meet. There were some great races and personal records, and I am proud of my team.”
The distance medley relay team formed by sophomore Kelsey Taylor, freshman Rachael Price, sophomore Tammy Kim and junior Ewa Zaborowska earned four points, finishing the race in fourth place.
On the second day of competition, the Lady Bisons got 23 points. Zaborowska earned 18 of them, defending her first place in the mile event in 5 minutes and 8.88 seconds. In the field events, freshman Caroline Embry broke Harding’s triple jump record and got eighth place with a mark of 34 feet and 10.50 inches.
The season will continue with the outdoor championships.
“We will just continue to keep working hard and getting better,” McDonald said. “Hopefully we will perform even better at the outdoor conference championship in Kingsville, Texas.”
The Lone Star Conference Outdoor Championship is scheduled for May 1-3, 2014 in Kingsville, Texas. Up next for the Bisons is the NCAA Indoor National Championship March 14-15, 2014 in NCAA Indoor National Championships.
