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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Senior Kaitlin Smith set two Southland Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship meet records and became the first ever three-time pentathlon champion to lead a strong day for HBU at the Birmingham Crossplex.
 
Smith opened the pentathlon with a meet record time in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 8.43, improving on her own school record time by more than a tenth of a second. She then posted a high jump mark of 1.67m/5-5.75 before a PR throw of 11.93m/39-1.75 in the shot put. After a long jump mark of 5.61m/18-5.0, she ran 2:15.90 in the 800 meters to win the event and earn a new meet record total of 4,118 points. At the start of the day, that point total was good for 11^th-best in the nation this season. The top 16 marks in the country qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Her previous school record in the pentathlon was 4,051.
 
Smith also qualified for the finals on Monday in the open 60h, finishing with the third-best time of the day, 8.66. In the men's 60h, Garrett Gibson also qualified for the finals, winning his heat with a time of 8.14. Senior Jessica Rabius also won her prelims heat in the women's 800 meters with a mark of 2:15.77. In the men's 800m, Travis Jacobs moved on to the finals by winning his heat with a time of 1:55.68. Ben Drew was the other Husky to win their prelims heat, posting a time of 4:16.45 in the mile.
 
Scott Boon earned a pair of bronze medals on the day, first in the long jump with a top leap of 7.25m/23-9.50 and then in the pole vault with a top clearance of 4.75m/15-7.0. The men's distance medley relay squad of Drew, Mark Ngei, Travis Jacobs and Justice Artisst picked up the program's other medal of the day thanks to a third place finish with a time of 10:02.03.
 
In the women's long jump, Meike Verdaasdonk and Brianna Brand picked up points with jumps of 5.67m/18-7.25 and 5.65m/18-6.50 to place sixth and seventh, respectively. In the men's long jump, Destiny Nkeonye finished fourth with a PR leap of 7.18m/23-6.75 while Isaiah Cash placed eighth with a mark of 6.98m/22-10.75.
 
Brand also qualified for the finals in the 60-meter dash, finishing with a PR time of 7.66. Two Huskies qualified for the 400 meter finals with Kemaya Linton setting a new PR of 57.36 and Ashlyn Dobson moving on with a time of 58.13. The women's DMR team of Arlette Concepcion, Dobson, Zara Richardson and Rabius placed fifth with a time of 12:11.38.

The HBU women are tied for fourth with 23 points while the men are in fifth with 18.

The second and final day of the SLC Indoor Championships begins on Monday, Feb. 28, at 9 a.m.