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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Junior
Kaitlin Smith broke her own program record and opened the 2020 Southland Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships with a gold medal in the pentathlon as the HBU men's and women's track team took part in day one of the championships at the Birmingham Crossplex on Sunday.
Smith totaled 3,896 points to best her own program record in the pentathlon by nearly 200 points and win the event. She opened things up with a third-place finish in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.73 before setting a new PR in the high jump, clearing 1.68m/5-6.0. A PR in the shot put followed as Smith posted a top throw of 11.07m/36-4.0. Then, in the long jump, she set another personal best with a top jump of 5.61m/18-5.0 before posting her fourth PR out of the five events in 800, finishing in 2:21.41. She held off SFA's Mathilde Coquillaud-Salom by 47 points.
In the men's multis, sophomore
Scott Boon stands second through four events of the heptathlon with 2,902 points, 131 points behind SFA's Asani Hylton. Boon opened the event with a time of 7.26 in the 60 meter dash before posting the top mark of 6.92m/22-8.50 in the long jump. He followed that up with a shot put throw of 11.63m/38-2.0 before setting a new PR in the high jump, clearing 1.92m/6-3.50.
Senior
Hudson Hall broke his own program record in the pole vault and reached the podium, placing second with a height of 5.06m/16-7.25 and gaining eight points for the men.
Jemira Thomlinson, meanwhile, also earned a second place finish for eight points in the weight throw thanks to a top distance of 17.60m/57-9.0. The final point of the day came from freshman
Robert West in the long jump with West finishing eight on a PR leap of 7.01m/23-0.0.
In prelims on the track, sophomore
Jessica Rabius shined with a pair of wins in her 800 meter and mile heats to qualify for the finals. Rabius first won her heat and posted the second-fastest time in the mile, crossing in 5:09.51, before finishing the 800 in 2:18.49 to also rank second overall in that event. In the men's 800, both
Christos Zachariou and
Travis Jacobs advanced to the finals with times of 1:53.50 and 1:53.70, respectively.
In the 60 meter hurdles, sophomore
Garrett Gibson posted a new PR of 8.06 to place second in his heat and fourth overall to move on to tomorrow's finals. On the women's side, Smith also placed second in her heat and sixth overall with a time of 8.77 to also advance to the finals.
Dennise Reyes finished the pentathlon with 2,863 points to set a new Honduran national record in the event and now holds both the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon record for Honduras.
The Huskies will wrap up the indoor championships on Monday, Mar. 2, with the remaining heptathlon events opening the day at 9:00 a.m.
