FAYETTEVILLE, AR – The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men's and women's track teams both had a successful weekend filled with personal records over the weekend at the John McDonnell Invitational meet at John McDonnell Field.
Seeing double on the women's side, sophomore twins Jade & Jada Sabir, both ran themselves a personal best in the women's 200-meter dash. Jada Sabir muscled her way to the finish line with a time of 24.29 seconds and her sister Jade was right behind her with a time of 24.40 seconds.
Jada Sabir would later go on to run a personal best in the women's 400-meter dash as well, finishing with a solid time of 55.08 seconds. Freshman Tatyana McKenzie made a statement at the John McDonnell Invitational in the 400-meter dash as well, running a personal best with a time of 55.31 seconds, finishing right behind Sabir.
Junior sensation Safiya John continued to make a name for herself running against some of the top collegiate hurdlers in the country and proved her worth that she is one of the best hurdlers in the nation. John ran a season-best in the 100-meter hurdles prelim race, qualifying for finals with a time of 13.68 seconds. She then went on to build on top of her season-best and ran a personal best in the finals, finishing with a time of 13.56 seconds.
Junior Jyzmin Gray also represented the black and gold well this weekend in the 400-meter hurdles running a smooth solid race and finishing with a time of 1:03.03.
In the ring, junior Deonmonique Granville threw past her personal best in both the women's shot put and the women's hammer throw. With pure strength, Granville threw a personal best in the shot put, marking a distance of 12.94 meters (42-5 ½), coming close to breaking the 13-meter mark. Granville then went on to throw a personal best in the hammer throw with a distance of 47.96 meters (157' 4"), almost breaking the 48-meter barrier.
Getting it done on the men's side, freshman Caleb Snowden showed his poetry at the high jump pit, jumping a personal best in a competitive jump-off against Wichita State. Snowden jumped a personal best height of 2.08 meters (6' 9" ¾) to show his worth as the top jumper in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Sophomore Deandre Fyffe continued to muscle his way through the outdoor circuit with a personal record in the men's shot put with a massive throw of 17.05 meters (55' 11" ¼) to continue to prove why he's the top thrower in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Junior Mykhel Oppon Kuntu made history at the John McDonnell Invitational breaking the Arkansas-Pine Bluff school record in the men's hammer throw, throwing an impressive personal best of 55.12 meters (180' 10") to make his name go down in school history.
Making history over the weekend was junior Franklyn Stanislaus, also breaking the Arkansas-Pine Bluff school record for points in the men's decathlon. Stanislaus gained a total of 6347 points over the duration of ten events.
"We had a lot of personal bests this weekend which is great because it shows that we're constantly getting better and even more ready for the SWAC Championship", said UAPB head coach Christopher McCoy about UAPB's performance over the weekend.
UAPB Track & Field will travel to Memphis, Tennessee next weekend to compete in the Memphis Invitational. The meet will take place at the University of Memphis Track & Soccer complex.
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