KINGSVILLE, Texas – A pair of newcomers to the campus of Texas A&M-Kingsville put up historic performances over the past weekend, and as a result freshmen
Valentin Charles (Rennes, France) and
Saidi Castillo (Kingsville, Texas) were named IBC Bank Players of the Week for the track and field and softball programs.
For the Javelina track and field program, Charles put together the sixth-best performance in NCAA Division-II history over the weekend at the MSSU Lion Open with a point total of 5544 in the heptathlon to come away with the gold medal.
The performance from the Rennes, France, native stands as the lone NCAA Automatic Qualifier in the heptathlon in 2019 and shattered both the Lone Star Conference record and TAMUK program record. Florian Obst of A&M-Commerce previously held the LSC record at 5494, while sophomore
Johnathon Harper (Lorena, Texas) was the former program record holder at 5130.
For his efforts on the track, Charles was named USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week as well as LSC Co-Track Athlete of the Week.
Over on the softball diamond, Castillo allowed zero runs and struck out 21 batters in 12 and 1/3 innings in the circle for the Javelinas to come away with an unblemished 3-0 mark alongside once save. Her efforts helped lead the Javelinas to one of the best starts in program history as the Blue and Gold closed the weekend with a perfect 5-0 mark at the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational in Conroe, Texas.
Castillo pitched in four of TAMUK's five games during the opening weekend and ended up bringing home the first LSC Pitcher of the Week honor from the conference office. She was the first Javelina to earn the distinction since junior
Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas) took home the award in April 2017.
The Javelina track and field program will have one final tune-up meet this weekend at the Fourth Annual Gorilla Indoor Classic in Pittsburg, Kansas, starting on February 8. Meanwhile, the Javelina softball team recently bested St. Edward's in the first home doubleheader of the season and will head out to San Antonio over the weekend to compete in the St. Mary's Tournament starting on Friday.
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