San Antonio - In their first full-team meet of the outdoor season, the Texas A&M - Kingsville men's and women's track and field teams showed out, totalling 16 top-five finishes and putting up eight new top-five performances in the country at the UT - San Antonio Invite.

Though Kingsville's first outdoor meet came two weeks ago at the Blue and Gold Battle in San Angelo, this Invite was the first of the season that saw both of the Javelinas' teams send their full squads. It was the perfect Invite for the occasion, with the field including a number of high-level D1 teams, including Texas A&M - College Station. Twelve different performances from TAMUK athletes are among the 10 best in the nation in D2 so far this season, led by three best-in-the-country scores. 

"It was great to have the whole team out competing together again," Head Coach Ryan Dall said. "We had some really good performances across the board. We have to continue to build from here throughout the season."

Leading the Javelinas across the two days of competition, most of which took place on Saturday, were senior Devon Williams and graduate student Jazmin Ray on the women's team and freshman David Guzman on the men's. In the field on Friday, Williams put up her second phenomenal throw of the year. She threw the discus 48.15m, the farthest in the nation this season and the third-best at the loaded Invite. 

On Saturday, Ray and Guzman, who both became All-Americans in Indianapolis last weekend, started their outdoor seasons on the right foot and then some. Ray added on to an incredible spring with a 12.50m triple jump, the second-longest jump at the Invite and, by nearly a quarter of a meter, the longest in the nation so far this season. In the men's shot put, Guzman posted a throw of 17.91m, the top number in the country this year.

Those three headlined a long list of Javelinas who planted their names near the top of the national leaderboard. A two-time All-American last weekend along, senior Cynai Christopher ran the fourth-fastest 200m in D2 this season with a 23.62, placing fifth in Saturday's race. The women's team's two high-jumping Madisons, junior Ramos and graduate student Alegria, tied for third at the meet, clearing 1.70m, which also ties them for the fourth-highest jump in the nation. Though sophomore Afaf Benhadja finished just behind them at the Invite, clearing 1.65m, she made her mark in the long jump, where she jumped 5.90m, the seventh-longest jump in the nation this season.

On the men's side, senior Thomas Nieto, who finished his final indoor season as a first-team All-American, cleared 5.30m in the pole vault, the second-best height in the D2 this season. As on the women's side, the men stacked the field portion of the Invite with nation-topping performances. The throwers were particularly impressive. Behind Guzman, senior Ronald Grueso Mosqueda threw 17.62m in the shot put, the fourth-best throw in the nation this year. Senior Paxton Hair, Guzman, and Mosqueda went 1-2-5 respectively in the men's discus, led by Hair's throw of 53.83m, the sixth-best throw in D2. Guzman threw 53.45m and Mosqueda threw 53.05m, the eighth- and 10th-best throws in the nation this season.

The red-hot Javelinas will split up their crew next weekend, with part of the teams going to the Texas Relays in Austin, and part competing in the Trinity Invitational in San Antonio.