Natalynn Mcrae

Men's Track and Field 1/27/2023 10:41:00 PM Ryan Smith, Athletic Communications Coordinator

Cardenas logs personal best at Houston Invitational

The graduate student reached 18.47m (60-7.25) for the third-best performance in school history

Houston- The Texas A&M-Kingsville track and field program competed at the Houston Invitational inside the Yeoman Fieldhouse on Saturday, with graduate student Stephen Cardenas climbing the Javelina all-time leader board thanks to a stellar performance in the weight throw.

Cardenas heaved the implement 18.47m (60-07.25) for an NCAA Division II Provisional Qualifying mark and the third-longest measurement in Blue and Gold history. Junior Paxton Hair, meanwhile, took ninth with a 17.43m (57-02.25) toss that serves as his career-best.

Over in the pole vault, sophomore Thomas Nieto placed fourth after vaulting 5.26m (17-03.00), while junior Reid Barba cleared a height of 4.81m (15-09.25) on his first attempt to secure seventh. Sophomore Blake Gordon also competed in the event, placing 11th with a 4.66m (15-03.50) clearance.

Graduate Student D.J. Delancy performed well in the shot put, heaving the implement 15.93m (53-03.25) on his fourth toss to collect a fourth-place finish. Additionally, Delancy was beaten only by a pair of athletes from Rice as well as Cobe Graham of Sam Houston State.

In the high jump, freshman Madison Ramos surpassed a height of 1.55m (5-01.00) en route to an 11th place finish, while fellow first-year Javelina Fakhreddine Benhadja placed 10th in the men's iteration at 1.95m (6-04.75).

On the track, newcomer Melanie Roland clocked in at 59.33 to collect 12th place in a crowded women's 400m field that featured a slew of NCAA Division I competition along with professional competitors.

The women's 4x400m relay squad comprised of freshman Zoe Brown, classmate Amber Gonzalez, freshman Jazmine Miller, and sophomore Lori Martinez then placed 10th with a time of 4:06.98, beating out squads from Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M in the process.

Wrapping up the day, the men's team featuring freshman Tony Benitez, junior Bryson Dyer, classmate Gabriel Field, and junior Preston Rabe battled their way to a fifth-place finish, clocking in at 3:22.26 while besting host school Houston by a tenth of a second.

The Javelinas next visit Maryville, Missouri, to compete in the Northwest Missouri Bearcat Invitational, with competition at the Hughes Fieldhouse beginning on Thursday.

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