PITTSBURG, Kan. – Mulerider Track and Field returned for their last visit of 2024 to Pittsburg, Kansas for the Ninth Annual Gorilla Indoor Classic hosted by Pittsburg State over the course of Friday (Feb. 9) and Saturday (Feb. 10).
Southern Arkansas faced competition of all levels across the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA as the Mulerider Women wrapped up action with 11 finishers inside the top-20 and Kamryn Floyd placing inside the top-five for the prelims and finals of the 60-meter dash. The Mulerider Men tallied five top-20 finalists in which three came in the top-ten of their respective events and one finished in the top-three.
 
WOMEN
Floyd, in her third indoor meet as a Mulerider, placed fifth in both the prelims and finals of the 60-meter dash. The freshman recorded a time of 7.67 in her preliminary round, but would improve her time in the finals with a NCAA Division II provisional time of 7.64.
Jordan Collins and Floyd each notched a top-20 spot in the 200-meter dash as Collins came away with a 14^th-place finish with a time of 25.24 and Floyd with a mark of 25.33 earning her 17^th.
In the high jump (open), Alexis Matlock placed 13^th after she recorded a height of 5' 1.25". Hailey Sutton in the pole vault (open) claimed 14^th with a height of 9' 10" for a new indoor PR.
Devlin Rivera set a new indoor personal record in the triple jump with her distance of 35' 11.5" to claim 20^th.
Irieyanna Wilson, in shot put, recorded a distance of 40' 11.5" to place her in 14^th as she also accounted for a distance of 50' 2.5" in the weight throw to place 18^th. Staying in the weight throw, Kailyn Thomas and Keyonce Brown each notched top-20 positions among other throwers as Thomas was responsible for a heave of 53' 1.75" for her to claim 12^th. Brown tossed for 51' 5.75" as she earned 16^th among the 39 throwers.
The 4x400 group, consisting of Floyd, Collins, Jayla Davila, and Edriana Hunter, placed tenth among 19 teams with their collective time of 4.00.20.
 
MEN
Bryson Johnson, during the 60-meter dash qualifying round, placed second among 88 sprinters as he notched a time of 6.91 for just his fifth 60-meter sprint under seven seconds.
In the qualifying round for the 60-meter hurdles, Brandon Sofi finished with a time of 8.62 to place 18^th among 38 finishers.
Joseph Boyd and Connor White each claimed a top-20 spot in the pole vault (open) with Boyd earning seventh thanks to his height of 14' 5.25" while White accounted for a height of 13' 1.5" to place 12^th.
Keith Smith earned the third top-ten finish for the Mulerider men as he was spotted at 46' 11.75" in the triple jump for him to place seventh. Smith's distance was his longest since the 2023 Wendy's/Pitt State Invitational where he recorded a distance of 47' 3.5".
Southern Arkansas in the 4000-meter distance medley relay (Giovani Diaz, Trysten Richey, Charles Patton, Wesley Maxwell) placed 17^th with a 11:00.69 time.
 
NEXT MEET
Southern Arkansas' next meet is set for Saturday in Carbondale, Illinois where the Muleriders prepare for the Don DeNoon Invitational hosted by Southern Illinois University. For more on this and other Mulerider athletic events, check out www.MuleriderAthletics.com