KINGSVILLE, Texas – This week, the Texas A&M University-Kingsville track and field program will be competing at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor National Championships in Charlotte, N.C., hosted on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University.
Competition in The Tar Heel State begins on Thursday the 24th, with Johnathon Harper taking on the decathlon. The sophomore from Lorena, Texas currently sits at 14th in the nation after his 6924-point performance at the Lone Star Conference Championships.
Harper was also invited to compete in the 4x100 meter relay along with Todd Nicholas, Deon Hope, Javier Lopez, and Charles Greaves. A crew that is ranked third with a qualifying time of 40.33.
Lopez will be a member of the 4x400 meter relay crew comprised of Robert Downs, Ayman Zahafi, and Marckenley Belony.
While currently holding the top time in the 110 meter hurdles with his mark of 13.57, Lopez looks to snag a gold medal with second seeded Jonathan Ross from Shorter University clocking in at just 13.78.
Downs is entered in the 800 meter run, an event where he finished third at the 2018 indoor national championships. He will be joined by Zahafi, who burst onto the scene at the LSCs after earning a gold medal.
Richard Cervantes heads into competition as the number one thrower in the nation in both the shot put and the discus. In the shot put, Cervantes leads a talented group of throwers with a 19.27-meter mark and his distance of 58.38 meters in his discus throw from the Texas Relays remains atop the leaderboard.
In addition to relay duties, Greaves will see action in both the long and triple jump, events where he has been consistently atop the podium this season for the Hogs.
Vitaly Zhgun will represent the Blue and Gold in the javelin throw as his season best toss of 68.90 meters is good for a top-five ranking headed into competition.
Headlining the women's team making the trip to the Queen City is hammer specialist Racheal Somoye. She currently owns the Javelina record in the event and her toss of 59.52 meters from earlier in the season makes her a gold medal favorite for the Javelinas.
Carrying a ton of momentum into the championships is Keandria Taylor who burst onto the scene with a gold medal performance in the 200 meter dash, also collecting a bronze in the 100m in the process.
She joins the 4x100 crew along with Teandria Taylor, Deana Richardson, and Taylor Roberson. The quartet is the third ranked squad in the country thanks to their 45.70 mark.
LaGae Brigance will be competing in the high jump for the Javelinas with a season-best leap of 1.72 meters.
Rounding things out will be Irene Almarcha-Conejero in the 100 meter hurdles, an event where she finished second at the conference meet.
You can find a full recap of the National Championships as well as everything Javelina Track and Field at javelinaathletics.com Be sure to follow Javelina athletics on Twitter (@JavelinaTandF) and Instagram (@JavelinaSports), and like /JavelinaSports on Facebook.
