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April 10, 2009

Results

Lubbock, Texas – The West Texas A&M Track & Field program competed at the Texas Tech Twilight Open, held Thursday at the Fuller Track & Field Complex in Lubbock, Texas.

Highlighting the Buffs’ outing on the women’s side were Jeniffer Cherono (1500 meters) and Mariana Chavira (5000 meters) and Malinda Riggins (high jump), who had stellar performances. Highlighting the men’s side was the performance of Luke Irwin in the 3000 meter steeplechase.

“Overall, we had some outstanding performances and showed that we can compete at a very high level,” said WT head coach Darren Flowers. “About 75 percent of the team set personal bests, which tells me we are getting better. We are looking forward to competing at TCU next week and preparing ourselves for our championship season.”

Mariana Chavira placed fourth in the 5000m, running a season best of 19:39.02

“Mariana did an outstanding job of pacing,” Flowers said. “Our game plan was to run 1:35 per lap and she was anywhere from 1:33 to 1:37 throughout the entire race and set a season best by about 50 seconds.”

 

Malinda Riggins finished second in the high jump with a personal best 5-03.

“This was Malinda's first performance of the season and we really just wanted to go out and get a good mark,” said Flowers. “She is very coachable and made the adjustments needed throughout the competition to set a personal best and finish second, overall. She is only a freshman and has a great deal of potential.”

Jennifer Cherono ran the 1500m unattached and ran a personal best 4:51.22 and finished 5th

“This was Jennifer's first race this outdoor season because she is redshirting for track,” Flowers said. “She ran a smart race and is really setting herself up to be one of the best all around distance runners in our conference.”

On the men’s side, Irwin won the 3000m steeplechase, running unattached, in a personal best time of 9:46.99

“Luke showed me that he is a competitor and can run with anyone,” said Flowers. “He was about 40 meters behind the leader going into the last lap. After the final barrier, Luke out-kicked the Texas Tech runner to win. He stuck to the game plan and ran smart early and had plenty of energy left to win the race.”

The Buffs next competition will be April 18, when they compete in the TCU Horned Frog Invitational, in Fort Worth, Texas.