Track Cats Compete at MSU, De La Rosa Sets 9th School Record
MURRAY, Kentucky- The Bethel University Men and Women's Track team traveled to Murray State University this past weekend to compete at the Margaret Simmons Invitational. There were several teams that competed in this event. UT Martin, Murray State, Evansville and Austin Peay were just some of the Division I competitors the Bethel University Wildcats had to compete against. There were several other divisions that competed at the invitational as well.
Andrea De La Rosa started the day off for the Lady Wildcats completing the steeplechase in 12:44 and setting a new school record. This was the ninth school record the All-American athlete has set during her career at Bethel University.
Cecilia Tellez, Hailey Wallace, Madison Northern and Emily Roque all competed in the 1500-meter race. Tellez led the way for the Lady Wildcats finishing with a time of 5:32. Cecilia Tellez, Russia Pyle, Allie Chappell completed top 20 finishes in the event. Kayla Bennett, Isabella Richardson and Madison Northern also competed in the 800m dash for the Wildcats. Cecilia Tellez led the way for the Wildcats in the 800 finishing with a time of 2:36 and placing 17th overall. Mackenzie Bennett competed in the 400m dash for the Lady Wildcats completing the event in 1:10 finishing 23rd. Kaeli Sain had a strong showing in the 100m dash finishing with a time of 12.77, finishing 16th overall.
In the field events, Kyler Corder started the day off big for the Cats. The freshman finished third with a jump of 6.25m and also finished sixth in the 400m hurdles. Freshman Hayden Jenkins completed a throw of 10.86m to finish 8th overall in the shot put.
The first track event of the day for the men was the 3000-meter steeplechase. Benard Koech led the way for the Cats finishing third for the Cats with a time of 10:39 while also finishing the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:25. Cedrion Cook, Stetson Childress, Braden Wallace and Conner Cox also competed in the event 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Dennis Kipkemboi led the way in the 1500m finishing with a time of 4:48. Wallace, Jent and Jones also competed in the 1500m event. The boys 800m race was led by Carson Warman who completed the event in 2:04. Childress, Williams and Jent finished the event in the top 20 respectively.
Bethel University had five men in the 400m dash. Servonte Williams led the way finishing the event in 54.27 completing a top ten finish. Smith, Littleton, Keaton and Cohill all had impressive performances. Blair, Cohill and Smith also competed in the 200m dash finishing in the top twenty-five. Gregory Cousins led the way for the Wildcats in the 100m dash with a time of 11.65 seconds. Cohill also competed in the event, finishing with a time of 12.14.
Head Coach Brandon Kilburn commented, "Overall, I think today went well for our athletes. This is the first outdoor meet of the season and many of these athletes are already performing better than they were last year during this time of the year. We still have plenty of time before the conference. This upcoming weekend we will be competing at Western Kentucky University against some more tough competition which will help us grow overall. Our athletes have very high ceilings and I believe that through the next few weeks, they will get closer and closer to the goals we have set for them. I am extremely proud of their effort today."