Waxahachie, Texas – April 6 th and 7th, 2018 – The Southwestern Assemblies of God Track squad traveled to the deep piney woods in East Texas to compete at the Sketchers Carl Knight Invitational Track Meet hosted by Stephen F. Austin State University.
Friday, April 6 th :
The Men’s distance group competed in the Distance Carnival which consists of all the Distance events from the 1500 meter run and up. The Lions posted up times in the 3000-meter steeplechase and the 5000-meter run. Junior Adrian Cedillo run an impeccable 3k steeple with a time of 10:13.34. He also got the team 3 points with his 6 th place finish in the race. Sophomores Robert Herrera and Cody Walker duked it out amongst the other Division I and II schools in the 5000-meter shortly after. Walker posted a time of 16:11 and Herrera with a time of 16:16.
Saturday, April 7 th :
The Lions returned to the track for a second day of tough competition. The weather dropped down to a cold, windy, and misty 40-degree temperature overnight. Assistant Coach Jose Campos stated, “The weather is the same for everyone. It doesn’t favor one team or another. It does benefit those with a tough mindset, however. On bad weather days, we like to remind ourselves ‘When it’s too cold, wet, or hot for everyone else, it’s just right for us.’”
Destiny Barclift kicked of the meet for the Lions with a solid 400-meter time of 66.27. Tatiana Morris followed her up with a 14.01 in the 100-meter dash. Morris’s 100-meter time was just .02 off her school record. While both sprinters rested up for the upcoming 200-meter dash, the 3 Lions that competed in the Distance Carnival would come back and race the 800-meter run on dead legs. Walker laid down the most impressive 800 out of the 3 by placing 5 th and running a season’s best of 1:58.95. He is now only .20 of a second shy of qualifying for the NCCAA National meet in the 800. Destiny and Tatiana would finish off the meet with a 28.48 and 29.85 in the 200-meter dash. Barclift, specifically was just .31 of a second shy of her school record.
“Overall, the team put in great effort despite the conditions. The two things that makes Track the best sport in college athletics is that the watch/time never lies, and that it’s all about how well you compete on that specific day. Championship season isn’t about beating your best time though that is sometimes a result of great training and great racing. It’s all about consistency and being able to compete against the others on that given day despite the circumstances. Not to say that the weather is an excuse, but despite the drastic weather conditions, our results were close to those of the last meet. The consistency of times against the weather prove that we are ready to run faster times on the days to come!” says Assistant Coach Jose Campos.
The Track team will be competing this Friday and Saturday at another NCAA Division I meet hosted by Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The university was established in 1927, and now offers more than 70 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU
