The UTRGV Track & Field Men’s and Women’s teams welcome the Spring 2019 indoor season with new goals in mind.
In Spring 2018, UTRGV introduced Darren Flowers as the new head coach for Track & Field. Flowers made sure that his athletes left their mark during the 2018 indoor season.
On the men’s side, freshman runner Abraham Chirchir was crowned the champion in both the 5,000-meter (14:35.03) and 3,000-meter (8:28.40) runs.
As a junior, Anthony Magallon conquered a WAC Championship in the high jump after clearing a height of 2.06 meters, which ranked as the third-highest mark in program history.
Now a senior, Magallon wants to accomplish more than just holding the third-highest mark in the high jump.
“I thought anything was possible last year with everything that was going on, but I am not satisfied,” he said. “That’s not good enough. It doesn’t feel good enough, yet. I would like to be No. 1 in program history for sure.”
UTRGV won a fourth WAC Championship title in the shot put. Junior Paul May triumphed after throwing 16.58 meters.
Other standouts in the WAC indoor championships were the men’s 4×400-Meter Relay, composed of sophomores Ricardo Mendoza and Carlos Serna-Hernandez, freshman Mikel Escobar and junior Dimitris Levantinos, who finished fifth overall.
In the men’s 3,000-Meter Run, freshmen Gabriel Kiprono finished fourth (8:36.41) and Juan Manzano placed 13th (8:57.18). Junior Alberto Herrera came in 17th (9:09.66) and freshman Jose Serna rounded up UTRGV with an 18th-place finish (9:15.36).
UTRGV gathered more top finishes in the 800-Meter Run with a second-place finish from Mendoza (1:58.86) and a fifth-place finish from Escobar (1:56.41).
In the 400-Meter Dash, junior Yariel Matute sprinted to a second-place finish (48.40s), alongside Serna Hernandez (49.42s), who captured fifth. Matute also captured sixth in the 200-Meter Dash (22.24s).
Under the field events, senior Antonio Salinas and sophomore Michael Gonzalez earned third (15.70m) and sixth (14.59m), respectively, in the men’s shot put. In the high jump, freshman Mauricio Campos jumped to a seventh-place finish (1.91m).
Overall, the men’s team earned fourth place, right behind Grand Canyon University, Utah Valley University, Chicago State University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
On the women’s side, junior Idatonye Cheetham-West was coronated as the WAC champion in the long jump after leaping 6.03 meters. Her jump set a new program record.
West transferred that success to the 200-Meter Dash and the 60-Meter Dash, where she placed second (24.53s) and third (7.54s), respectively.
This season, West said she has bigger plans in mind.
“My goals are so much bigger than what they were last year because now I know actually what I can do,” she said. “I don’t want to say winning, but it is going to be performing to the best of my ability. Performing better than last year because I know that I can.
“If anybody thought last year was the best I could do, this year is going to be crazy.”
Top finishes in the WAC Championship also included junior Dai’ja Coleman, who finished second (12.10m), and junior Kassandra Rocha, who placed 10th (11.09m) in the Triple Jump.
In the women’s 60-Meter Dash, senior Jovanna Jones sprinted to a fifth-place finish (7.72s). Jones also earned third place in the 200-Meter Dash (24.80s).
Juniors Destiny Rutherford (57.34s) and Valerie King Mancha (58.24s) earned a sixth- and seventh-place finish, respectively, in the 400-Meter Dash.
In the 4×400-Meter Relay, junior Felicia Wills, Jones, Mancha and Rutherford captured second place (3:50.43).
Overall, the women’s team earned a fifth-place finish at the WAC Championship.
Flowers plans to transfer that success and more to the 2019 season.
“A lot of it is going to fall on development,” he said, “continuing what we did with those returners from last year and picking up where they left off.”
“I think you’re gonna see a lot more depth out of this program and I think you are gonna see another level-up, performancewise, from the team, overall, and those returners that had such a good year last year on breaking school records.”
The Vaqueros enter 2019 with 80 student athletes. All of the athletes will vie for a spot in the final 28 men and 28 women who will be chosen to represent UTRGV at the WAC Indoor Championships.
UTRGV kicked off the indoor season last Friday at the Ted Nelson Invitational in College Station. Results were unavailable at press time.
