San Angelo - In the first iteration of Rams VS Javelinas in the aptly named 'Blue and Gold Battle,' the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's and men's track and field teams fell 112-75 and 102-88 respectively to Angelo St.

The dual meet in San Angelo was the first team-scored head-to-head matchup for TAMUK this year, and served as the team's Outdoor season opener.

"The teams competed well," Assistant Coach Zachary Hall said. "The group had a strong showing, notching some conference qualifying marks."

Both teams rested their national qualifying athletes ahead of next week's NCAA Indoor National Championships - Kingsville sat 16 athletes while Angelo sat nine. With both team's best indoor athletes on the sidelines, the squad showed off their respective depth, as athletes on both sides who don't always get an opportunity to shine led their teams on Friday.

Despite the loss, a number of Javelinas posted nation-topping scores in their events, starting off the outdoor season in style. On the women's side, sophomore Afaf Benhadja's 1.70m high jump was the single highest jump in the nation on D2's opening weekend of outdoor. Joining her atop the country's leaderboard is junior Devon Williams, who posted a 46.71m throw in women's discuss, the longest throw in the nation this season.

Amazingly, three different shot putters for the women put top-five throws in the nation on the board on Friday, led by sophomore Karina Alvarez, who threw 13.58m in the women's shot put, taking second in the event and grabbing the third-best throw in D2 this season. Behind her with the fourth- and fifth-best throws respectively were Williams and sophomore Kaylea Demetrius. 

The men had a number of top-five nation-wide performances as well, led by sophomore Keyshawn Garcia in the 800m. His 1:51.22 was not only the fastest time in San Angelo on Friday, but also the third-fastest in the nation. Senior Jean Paul Castro ran a 21.43 in the 200m, placing second at the meet and notching the fourth-best time in the nation. Freshman David Guzman's 49.90m throw won the discuss - the fifth-longest throw in the event so far this season.

Kingsville will be back on the oval this coming weekend when they send 16 athletes to compete in 10 individual events and two relays at Indoor Nationals in Indianapolis, IN. The teams' next outdoor event will come on March 22nd when they travel to San Antonio for the UTSA Invitational.