MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The potentially stormy weather held off on Saturday at the Third-Annual Dan Veach Invitational as cooler weather and a steady, gusting wind took its place. As for the action that developed inside the competition area of the Mulerider Track & Field Complex, the Southern Arkansas Men's & Women's Track & Field programs dominated the field as the two teams combined for 69 top-five finishes and 18 event wins.
 
Among the most notable event wins was freshman Laquesta Kindle's program record finish in the 100 hurdles which she ran in 14.62 to top Bailey Yocom's 14.93 in the event which was set last season. Additionally, junior Quantiesha Coats broke her own program record in the shot put with a toss of 43' 11 ¼"; 2' ½" better than her best mark last spring.
 
After an impressive performance on Friday, the SAU throwers started the day's action in the discus event which saw senior T'Keyah Crockett place third at 124' 7" on the women's side, while sophomores Sal Guli (149' 5") and Dre' Lawson (108') finished in second and fifth place, respectively.
 
In the shot put, Coats placed second at behind Mulerider Throws coach Chelsea Whalen's 50' ¾". Freshman Hattie Green posted a fifth place showing behind a long toss of 37' 1 ¾". On the men's side, senior Sinclair Pitts won his sixth event of the season with a result of 48' 10.25", while Lawson (43' 2 ½") and Guli (41' 6 ½") placed third and fourth, respectively.
 
Both teams owned the triple jump pit as seniors Aurthur Jeffery (46' 4 ¼") and Torrie Whetsell (42' 7 ½") placed first and second with Lady Mulerider freshmen Chassidy Jermany (37' 9 ¼") and Annie Oliver (37' 7 ¾") and sophomore Courtney Williams (37' 6 ¾") stacking first through third, respectively, in the women's event.
 
In the long jump, senior athlete Ka'Ronce Higgins' mark of 21' 2" was good enough for second place and Jeffery (21') followed in third with senior Richard Barkhimer (20' 9 ¾") placing fourth in the event. The Lady Muleriders posted the top four finishers in the women's long jump event with freshman Adrianna Tillman claiming first place honors after landing a mark of 18' 11 ¼".
 
Fresh off of back-to-back Great American Conference Field Athlete of the Week honors, Williams won the high jump competition as she met 5' 5 ¾", while sophomore Carley Hale finished in third-place at 4' 11 ¾" and freshman Rebecca Miner placed fourth at 4' 9 ¾". Barkhimer won the men's high jump as he cleared 6' 4".
 
Relay action saw Southern Arkansas sweep all four events. The 4x100 men's team of Hurst, Flowers, Atkins and Higgins won in 42.08, while Atkins and Higgins joined Banks and Ross to log a first-place finish of 3:25.35 in the 4x400 event which concluded the meet. On the women's side, Aniya King, Chloee Riddley, Breanna Byrd and Tillman finished in first at 48.88; just two seconds back of a 26-year-old school record, and Riddley joined the trio of Kirby Roy, Chantaya Griffin and Kindle and the squad posted an event-winning time of 4:09.45.
 
Senior Lane Alexander garnered first-place honors with a top time of 10:12.23 in the 3000 meter Steeplechase.
 
Freshman LaQuesta Kindle placed second in the 400 hurdles at 1:07.72. Senior Aliyah Mixon finished third at 1:09.88 and freshman Kaliyah Thompson finished fifth at 1:13.00. Junior hurdler Wesley Franklin cruised to a first-place finish in the men's 400 hurdles as he won the event by over two seconds at 55.14. Senior Raymond Miller place fourth at 59.80.
 
Miller won the 110 hurdles at 15.52 and Franklin followed in second place at 15.76. On the women's side in the 100 hurdles, Kindle won with the aforementioned program record and K. Thompson placed fourth with a time of 15.99.
 
The women's 5000 meter event saw sophomore Karly Anderson finish in fourth place after producing a time of 20:08.98. In the women's 1500 meter, freshmen Cecilia Quesada (5:23.52) and Alyssa Dohm (5:23.91) finished third and fourth, respectively. In the men's 1500 meter, freshman Anthony Vazquez raced to a second place finish behind a time of 4:15.62.
 
Hale (2:27.79), Dohm (2:36.14) and Quesada (2:40.30) finished second, third and fifth, respectively in the women's 800 meters and on the men's side, junior Donald Robinson placed second at 2:01.60 with freshman Rob Kraus placing fifth at 2:06.01.
 
Chantaya Griffin won the women's 400 meter at 1:00.44 and Riddley followed in second place at 1:01.47. Roy placed fourth at 1:02.71. Junior Addison Ross was the top Mulerider finisher in the men's 400 meter at 51.20.
 
Both teams filled up top five finishers in the 200 meter events as the women's sprint saw Riddley (26.52), Byrd (26.53) and Griffin (26.60) place in the top three spots, while in the men's event Higgins (21.81) and Flowers (22.20) placed one and two and Hurst (22.55) earned a fifth-place finish among the 27 runners that logged a time in the event.
 
Hurst's time of 10.95 was the lone sub-11 second time in the men's 100 meter and it earned him first-place honors. Flowers (11.06) finished second and Atkins (11.07) followed in third. The SAU Women placed runners in the second through fifth spots in the 100 meter event as Tillman (12.54), Liberty Henderson (12.59), Byrd (12.61) and King (12.80) all logged top five finishes in the 17-runner field.
 
Both teams return to action next weekend at the Jim Mize Invitational hosted by Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana.