The men’s indoor track and field team participated in the Crimson & Gold Invite sponsored by Pittsburg State University. The team made an impressive appearance and several members etched their names in the Saints record book.

Head Coach Patrick Torres commented, “It’s heartbreaking to miss some qualifying standards by such narrow margins. Our men are mostly underclassmen including an all-freshmen relay team, and they have given themselves an excellent starting place. We broke nine school records and had one national qualifier. Jose Zarate punched his ticket to nationals in the 5k setting a school record and running the eighth fastest time in the country.”

Freshmen record breakers include Jalen Bell, who ran the 60m in 7.06. Bell also broke the OLLU record in the 200m with a time of 22.24. In addition, Cerrone Thompson set the school record in the 400m with a time of 49.63. Bell and Thompson, joined by Julian Verastegui and Troy Stinson broke the OLLU record in the 4x400mR with a time of 3.20.

Saints’ sophomore De’Jon Lewis set two school record in Kansas with  a 13.91m distance in the triple jump and 6.85m distance in the long jump. Sophomore Justin Gould ran the 600m in a record-breaking 1.16.

Senior Jose Zarate set the school record in the 800m with a time of 1:57, and his 14:47 time in the 5000m – a Saints record – garners him qualified for the National Indoor Track and Field Meet later in spring.

Full results are available on the Saints Athletics website.

What’s next
The Saints will return to competition Jan. 13-14 at the Leonard Hilton Invitational sponsored by the University of Houston.