BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Southern Arkansas University Mulerider Men's Indoor Track and Field team made their final appearance indoors for the 2023 track and field season in Birmingham, Alabama on Sunday for the Jaguar Invitational hosted by the University of South Alabama at the Birmingham Crossplex. The men's team finished with nineteen top thirty finishes and were led by freshman Keith Smith in the triple jump and sophomore Ja'Kamron Zackery in the shot put.
Coming off another stellar performance, the freshman K. Smith earned another top five spot at a meet with plenty of competition after he placed 5th in the triple jump with a distance of 46' 7.25". It marked his third top five and fourth top ten spot this season. Zackery got back to showing his featured strength with an 8th place spot in the weight throw after he recorded a distance of 54' 4.75".
Junior Bryson Johnson placed 24th in the 60M dash with a time of 7.04 and would later place 29th in the 200M dash with a time of 22.50. Brandon Sofi and Caleb Sterling both placed top 30 in the 60M hurdles with Sofi coming in 20th (8.62) and Sterling coming in 27th (8.77).
Senior runner Hector Hernandez placed 26th in the 800M after he recorded a time of 2:00.45. Adding two more laps, freshman Wesley Maxwell placed 23rd in the mile run with a time of 4:20.97 to break his old PR from last week. Maxwell later placed 17th in the 3000M with a new personal record of 8:59.83 and not even ten seconds behind was freshman Isaac Gass placing 22nd with his new PR of 9:08.97.
Robert Kraus, Jorge Sanchez, and Joseph Garay all placed top twenty in the 5000M run with Kraus coming out on top with a 10th place time of 15:48.74. Sanchez finished in 14th with a time of 16:13.75 and Garay placed 17th with a final time of 17:10.15 in his first attempt at the 5000M.
The men's 4x400 team (Carter Duncan, Glenn Chevis, Dorian Pressley, and B. Johnson) placed 15th with a time of 3:31.88.
The men's field events went off with incredible performances all over the arena. Sophomore Derrick Onyeador got things in gear with a 15th place finish in the long jump after he recorded a distance of 21' 6.75". In the triple jump, junior Chauncy Blake placed 22nd with his distance of 39' 2.25".
Shot put had four top twenty finishers with Trevon Hill, Zackery, Traveon Scott, and Micheal Jones. Hill placed 10th with his new personal best of 46' 11.75". Only half a foot behind (46' 4.25") was Zackery in 12th and just behind him at 14th was Traveon Scott after a throw of 44' 6". Jones placed 20th in shot put with his throw of 41' 11.50". Scott and Jones also placed in the top fifteen of the weight throw with Scott at 12th (50' 3.50") and Jones at 15th (49' 6.50").
Sunday's action concluded the first official indoor track and field season for the Muleriders. The outdoor season will start March 4th with the Mississippi College Season Opener hosted by Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi where the Muleriders will seek even more successful outings in the upcoming outdoor campaign.
