Leo Garcia

Men's Track and Field 4/16/2023 12:29:00 AM Ryan Smith, Athletic Communications Coordinator

Several solid performances at 15th Annual Cactus Cup

Thomas Nieto snapped the meet record in the pole vault, while Paxton Hair recorded the seventh-best discus mark in DII

KINGSVILLE, Texas- The Texas A&M-Kingsville track and field program concluded the 15th Annual Cactus Cup as the squad saw many stellar performances inside Pepsi Field at Javelina Stadium, despite poor weather in the area.

The men's team placed second on the leader board logging 150.33 points, finishing behind UIW, who recorded 160.33. UTSA was the third-place finisher with a score of 90.33 as Our Lady of the Lake, UTRGV, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Trinity (Tex.) also competed.

The Javelinas wrapped up the day ranked third on the women's side at 118 points, with UIW second at 135 and UTRGV holding the top spot with 140.

Sophomore Thomas Nieto saw the meet record fall in the pole vault as the Colombian cleared a bar set at 5.30m (17-4.25) to take first by a wide margin.

Junior Paxton Hair was exceptional in the discus, slinging the implement 53.09m (174-02) to collect a gold medal and climb into seventh on the NCAA Division II performance list. Junior Garrett Burns joined him on the podium, thanks to a 49.55m (162-07) measurement slotting him second.

In the men's javelin, graduate student Markim Felix collected gold, using a 48.16m (161-03) throw to climb atop the leader board. Multi-event specialist Nathan Melton also performed well, finishing second at 48.96m (159-09).

Graduate student Stephen Cardenas was the second-place finisher in the men's hammer throw as he heaved the implement 56.20m (184-04), taking eight points onto the Blue and Gold total.

The women's hammer saw junior Katryna Hernandez record a 49.18m (161-04) mark to collect fourth before the Skidmore, Texas native reached 14.45m (47-05) in the shot put for a first-place finish.

The women's discus featured graduate student Veronica Garcia narrowly falling to an athlete from UTRGV as Garcia recorded a 45.19m (148-03) mark that slotted her second and 0.01m behind Hanna Hilding, who claimed first.

Cementing a solid day for the Javelinas throwers, graduate student D.J. Delancy recorded a 16.81m (55-02) toss in the shot put for second behind Michael Campbell of UTSA.

Freshman Madison Ramos performed well in the high jump, surpassing 1.66m (5-0.25) to tie Abigail Morrow of UIW for first place. The men's iteration featured freshman Fakhreddine Benhadja who placed second at 2.03m (6-08), tying a competitor from TAMUCC.

On the track, freshman Amber Gonzalez was champion of the 400m hurdles, using a time of 1:03.52 to surpass athletes UTRGV and UTSA and claim victory.

The men's 4x100m relay squad comprised of senior Shaun Gill, junior Michael Samihamba, sophomore Ja'Qualon Scott, and freshman Trevor Haynes then teamed up to place third, completing the relay in 41.02.

Scott also competed independently in the 110m hurdles, where a time of 13.71 slotted him second, and in the 400m hurdles, where he took the gold at 52.12. Junior Gabriel Field also medaled in the 400m hurdles, placing third in 53.63.

The Cactus Cup concluded with a pair of solid performances in the 4x400m relay as the women's team, made up of Gonzales, newcomer Melanie Roland, sophomore Vitiana Robert, and classmate Cynai Christopher, took the top spot with a time of 3:52
3:52.07, edging out UTRGV for the top spot.

The men's team comprised of Scott, Samihamba, freshman Tony Benitez, and junior Bryson Dyer then were issued second as the quartet clocked in at 3:14.51.

The Javelinas will now split up, sending squads to the J Fred Duckett Twilight Invitational hosted on the campus of Rice as well as the Alabama Crimson Tide Invitational on Saturday, April 22.

To keep up-to-date with Javelina track and field, follow the program on Facebook at /JavelinaSports, Twitter @JavelinaTFXC, and on Instagram @JavelinaTFXC

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