It was a record-setting weekend for junior sprinter Perron Jones as the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Kentucky Invitational. Jones finished second overall in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.77 seconds, breaking a school record.
Jones also finished fourth in the 200-meter dash in 21.84 seconds, while seniors Michael Simms and Paul DeVito took eighth and thirteenth with times of 22.59 and 23.52 seconds, respectively.
That was not the only success the teams saw this past weekend. Junior Shawn Roberts finished first in the 3000-meter run with a time of 8:20.53, being the only Jacket to finish first in an event all weekend. The 3000 proved to be a very successful event for the Jackets, as the team saw five of its runners finish in the top ten.
Along with Roberts, sophomore Alec Clifford, juniors Patrick Barron and Eric Powers and freshman Jeremy Greenwald finished third, fifth, sixth, and tenth, respectively.
In the pole vault, senior Aaron Unterberger and freshman Nikita Kirillov finished fifth and sixth, both clearing a height of 4.87 meters.
For the women, senior Leslie Njoku finished third in the 60-meter hurdles and eighth in the 200 meter dash. Seniors Melanie Akwule and Jasmine Isley also made it to the finals in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing seventh and tenth overall, respectively.
Freshman Stephanie Kalu was the Jackets’ top sprinter over the weekend, finishing seventh in the 200-meter dash in 25.03 seconds and third overall in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.58 seconds. Njoku, sophomore Julienne McKee, and freshman Jamilliah Middlebrooks also placed in the 200-meter.
Erica Penk finished in seventh place in the pole vault, clearing 3.72 meters, while freshman Samantha Becker also had a strong outing with a 3.57 meter leap. Becker took an 11th place finish at the end of the day.
McKee also took second in the long jump and third in the triple jump, leaping a distance of 5.9 and 12.2 meters, respectively.
The Jackets will return to Lexington, Ky., in one week when they return to action in the Rod McCravy Invitational from Jan. 27-28.