FAYETTEVILLE, AR – The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men's and women's track and field teams had some great performances on a national stage this past weekend at the Woo Pig Classic in their season debut.
On the women's side, junior sensation Safiya John had a great season opener showing her versatility, displaying well how the long jump and the hurdles go together, proving herself in each event. In her first jump of the long jump competition, John took flight and would land at the 5.92-meter mark to secure fourth place.
John would then head over to her bread and butter, the women's 60-meter hurdles. Exploding out of the blocks, John would get over the five hurdles to finish in fifth place with a time of 8.58 seconds.
Over to the women's weight throw, junior Joelle Steward would launch for 13.85-meters to secure a bronze medal with more room to grow throughout the season.
Topping things off for the women, senior Deonmonique Granville has been in the lab all off-season, perfecting her form and technique in the ring. She has made the ring her own.
"Being in the ring makes me feel safe where I can let out my silent tears and display my joy," said Granville.
On her release of the weight throw, Granville instantly knew she had a big throw as she began to clap her hands, realizing that she had just thrown a new personal best of 16.22-meters, securing a gold medal finish.
"I felt that all the early mornings and late evenings began to pay off as soon as the weight-throw released my hands."
On the men's side, sophomore Stephen Lane fired out of the blocks and cruised in his lane to a fifth-place finish in the men's 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.31 seconds for Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
In the men's high jump, sophomore Caleb Snowden got his bunnies warmed up for the season, tying for fourth place with Texas A&M with a leap of 2.00-meters for the Golden Lions.
"We'll continue to get better as we go and take advantage of this winter break to prepare for the Arkansas Invitational meet in January," said UAPB head coach Christopher McCoy about how his team will build after the meet.
UAPB track and field will have a month of training before heading back to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the Arkansas Invitational on January 14th.
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