During the 2019 track and field regular season the Mean Green set multiple personal and school records during their track meets, beginning in the Kansas State Wildcats Invitational.
Kinesiology freshman Brock Hottel, practices pole vaulting at Fouts Field on Feb. 5, 2019. Image by: Adriance Rhoades.
Freshman pole vaulter Brock Hottel broke the school record with 5.20 meters in his first track meet at North Texas. The previous record, set in 2009, was set by Jordan Wehr. The Mean Green had five athletes finish in first place in their event and seven athletes place second. Twelve North Texas athletes finished in third place.
“Our team is pretty young now, so to know that we are capable of breaking records now, there is no telling what we can do in the future,” sophomore sprinter Lauryn McCollum said.
Two weeks later, at the Texas Tech Classic, sophomore sprinter Alia Holmes placed seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.81 seconds. This broke the 24.01-second record set in 2010 by Alysha Adams. Junior distance runner Florian Lussy received first place in the 3,000-meter race with a time of 8:33.18. The distance medley placed third with a time of 10:42.14.
Jalesia Shaffer placed fourth in shot put at the J.D. Martin Invitational with a 14.65-meter throw. This broke a 14-year record. Sprinter Lyric Choice won the 200-meter dash with a 25.28-second time and Brock Hottel placed first in the pole vault with a 5-meter jump.
In the C-USA Indoor Championship, North Texas broke two school records. Jalesia Shaffer broke her own record from the previous invitational with a 14.82-meter throw in the shot put, finishing fourth. In the 4×400, McCollum, Artesha Richardson, Choice and Aneesa Scott ran time of 3:44.03, placing fourth and breaking a 12-year-old school record. Darien Porter placed second in 60-meter. Hottel placed second in the pole vault. In the 3,000-meter race, Lussy competed and got third. Holmes participated in the 200-meter dash with 24 seconds, placing third.
The first outdoor meet was the Wes Kittley Invitational, in which Choice finished first in the 100-meter hurdle with 14.31 seconds. Kristyn Archuleta finished first in the javelin with 46.34 meters. Athletes who placed second included Hill in the javelin, Cody Bullard in the pole vault, Andrew Cobos in 1,500-meter, Valencia Bullock in long jump, and Cassidy Adams in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Hill was not projected to perform and was slated to rest for their last regular season throw.
“I think the team has done well this year,” Hill said.
In preparation for the Mean Green’s first home meet of the 2019 season, sophomore Jaleisa Shaffer throws a shot put during practice at UNT’s new practice facility. Image by: Kara Dry.
In the Baylor invite, nine Mean Green athletes took home gold medals, seven athletes finished second and eight placed third. Graduate student Cassidy Adams placed first and set a stadium record in the 2,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 7:07.49. Walker finished first in discus and second in the hammer throw and the shot put. The 4×400 team placed third with a time of 3:51.35. Karl Sralla placed first in both javelin and the discus. The women’s and men’s team both finished third overall.
“A lot of school records have been broken and the majority of these athletes that have done so will be returning,” Hill said.
Next, at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, the Mean Green broke two school records, including the discus throw and the javelin throw. Walker placed fifth in throwing section B, breaking a 16-year-old record with a 51.29-meter throw. Despite breaking a record, Walker is looking to the future.
” I look forward to a bigger throw in the future,” Walker said.
North Texas hosted its first outdoor track and field event in five years with the North Texas Classic. The Mean Green finished the meet first overall in men’s and women’s. Eleven athletes took first place in their respective events and 11 more took second. Adams finished in second place in the school record books in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, placing first with a time of 10:57,99. Sophomore thrower Ashlynn Smart took first with a 52.28-meter throw, placing in third in school record books. Zion Hill threw a 64.09-meter javelin throw to finish in first place. Hill said his goal for the C-USA Championships is to hit the 72-meter mark in javelin.
North Texas traveled to Wichita State for the K.T. Woodman Classic the following week. Freshman Cody Bullard placed second in the pole vault with 4.81 meters. Freshman Kendal Maples got a personal record in the shot put of 14.33 meters. Freshman Chris Samaniego threw a personal best in the hammer with a 44.77-meter throw.
When the track team went to California for three separate meets, the Mean Green recorded several personal bests. Bullock earned a personal best with 12.23 meters in the triple jump. Sydney Salinas recorded a personal record in the pole vault with 3.76 meters. Taylor Blackshire recorded her best performance in the 200-meter with 24.33 seconds.
The final track meet of the season was held in College Station. North Texas had two first-place finishes, two second-place finishes and five third-place finishes. Walker placed first in the discus with 50.54 meters and placed third in the hammer throw with 53.2 meters. Joseph Squire placed first in the 110-meter hurdles with 13.97 seconds. Aneesa Scott placed third in the 400-meter race with 53.29 seconds, setting a personal record, school record and finished second in all-time conference times.
UP Next: Track and field is going to the C-USA Championships from May 9-12 to qualify for the NCAA preliminary round in Sacramento.
Featured Image: Freshman Brock Hottel runs down the track in preparation to vault himself in the air at practice on Feb. 5, 2019. Image by: Adriance Rhoades.