BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Alabama State picked up four gold medals and moved up the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) performance lists at the Jaguar Invitational Sunday at the Birmingham Crossplex.
"The teams made another step in the right direction today," head coach
Ritchie Beene said. "I don't know what the future holds for this group, but what I do know is they are learning how to compete and be competitive."
Tionna Brown set a new personal best in the 60-meter dash at the meet, running a time of 7.38 seconds – a time that was 0.14 seconds ahead of previous season-best time. The time is the 29th-best time in the nation, and she maintained the top spot in the conference. Meanwhile,
Halima Barlow claimed gold in the 200-meters with a time of 24.37 seconds which places her at the top of the conference and has her tied for 74th in the nation.
On the men's side,
Ulyesses Grace claimed gold in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.09 seconds, just 0.03 seconds shy of his season-best performance on the season. Meanwhile,
Matthew Clarke picked up a gold in the 200-meters with a time of 21.57 seconds, a time that has him at the top of the conference after the race was complete.
Alabama State had several other top performances from a strong meet including
Ulani Toussaint who finished fourth overall in the 60-meters behind Brown with a time of 7.56 seconds. The time moved her to second in the conference ahead of Barlow, while
Amari Newsome (24.83 seconds) and
Kyana Evans (24.89 seconds) finished fourth and fifth in the 200-meters. The times put the duo at second and third in the conference behind Barlow.
Evans set the top mark in the conference in the 400-meters with a third-place finish, crossing the line in a time of 57.27 seconds, while
Michaela Lewis set a new season-best with a time of 2:14.67 in the 800-meters. The time was nearly a full second better than her previous mark and has her at the top of the conference performance list. Meanwhile,
Taranique Alexander finished third in the long jump with a distance of 5.72 meters, a mark that is the third-best in the SWAC. She also finished sixth overall in the triple jump with a distance of 11.63 meters, 0.29 meters better than her previous mark, and places her third in the conference.
On the men's side,
Matthew Kibet finished sixth overall in the 5000-meters with a time of 16:04.23 – the third-best mark in the conference. Meanwhile,
Caesar Kemp finished fifth overall in the shotput with a throw of 15.58 meters (second-best in SWAC) and the 4x400-meter relay team ran the second-fastest time in the conference at 3:20.54 to finish fourth overall.
Alabama State returns to action next week at the Birmingham Crossplex, competing in the Samford Open on Friday and Saturday. It is the final meet in preparation for the SWAC Indoor Championships held in Birmingham the following week.
Follow the Hornets
For complete coverage of Alabama State University track and field, follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateTFXC (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook), and @BamaStateSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at BamaStateSports.com.
