Houston - At the FasTrak Athletix Collegiate Last Chance Invitational, the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's and men's track and field teams replicated their success at FasTrak's last Invite and then some, winning seven events, placing top five in 20 more, and posting four new top-15 scores in the nation in D2 this year.

Head Coach Ryan Dall brought 55 athletes to the Yeoman Fieldhouse in Houston, tied for the most he's had in competition so far this season. With just under two weeks between now and the Lone Star Conference Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, both teams have been firing on all cylinders, with each adding players to a long list of Javelinas in national qualifying spots. 

Senior Cynai Christopher, who already owns top-20 times in the nation in the 400m and as a member of the 4x400m this season, added a top-15 time in the 200m to her resume, running a 24.20, good for 12th in D2. The other new nation-topping scores came on the men's side, all of which came in field events. Ronald Grueso Mosquera and David Guzman dominated the shot put, throwing the seventh- and eighth-best distances in the nation with 18.11m and 18.10 respectively, as Django Segovia cleared 5.00m, the 15th-best height in D2. 

Amazingly, Kingsville's squads are so stacked with talent that, while Chrispher and Mosquera also won their respective events, Guzman and Segovia were both beaten by Javelina teammates. Guzman finished just 0.01 meter shy of his Javelina teammate and took second in shot, and Thomas Nieto grabbed the pole vault win clearing 5.15m, with Segovia finishing in third.

"The team performed very well in Houston," Assistant Coach Zachary Hall said. "We are walking away with two of our shot putters in the top 10 in the country, in the women's 200 and men's pole vault, we add some athletes in national qualifying spots."

Just seven and eight days respectively from a weekend that saw both the women's and men's 4x400m relay teams setting new TAMUK school records, they each won their events on Saturday despite running different athletes from the week prior. The women ran Sophie Mossman, Oneika Brissett, Sakara Wade, and Vitiana Robert, while the men ran Tony Benitez, Cody Fountain, Jacob Swierc, and Darius Bouakel. The women's 3:50.94 is the 32nd-best time in D2.


The other two events wins on the day came from Afaf Benhadja, who jumped a 5.62m in the women's long jump, and Tanner Spears, Cody Fountain, Robert Alejandro, and Nirmit Dahiya, who made up the men's distance medley relay and ran a 10:43.42.

"We had a ton of season and personal bests," Hall said. "Most of our athletes moved up in the conference rankings."

In addition to those event wins, TAMUK also put 20 other athletes or relay teams into the top five of an event, 10 on the women's side and 10 on the men's. Not only that, but 14 of those, seven each on the men's and women's side, finished in the top three. 

"As we head into conference in two weeks, both of our teams are looking good," Hall said. "The first step is to get individuals qualified for the meet and our athletes are accomplishing that goal."

Between now and the LSC Championships, the teams have one meet - they'll be travelling back to Houston for the Howie Ryan Invitational next Friday.