TXST TRACK
DOUBLE SWEEP Bobcats take home both Men’s and Women’s titles
Texas State made history over the weekend, capturing both the Men’s and Women’s conference outdoor track titles in a single season.
For the Men’s team, the Bobcats won their first outdoor conference since 2019, their second ever Sun Belt conference title and their 11th conference title in program history. For the Women’s team, it marks the program’s second straight outdoor title, a first in program history, and the program’s eighth overall conference title. The victory follows the team’s conference title win at the Sun Belt indoor meet.
“I am happy to see the hard work from my coaches, staff and athletes pay off with a men’s and women’s championship,” Head Coach John Frazier said. “It was a fierce battle to the end and we came out on top.”
Seven different Bobcat track athletes took home the gold medal while another several others made the podium.
On Day 1, sophomore Lara Roberts took home first place in the hammer throw, throwing 225-10 ft. Joining Roberts in winning gold was fresh- man Charlize Goody, taking first place in the javelin with a throw of 167-7 ft.
In Day 2, sophomore Easton Hammond added to the Bobcats gold medal count, winning the decathlon. Hammond won the event by scoring 7,131 points across 10 events and becoming the first Bobcat to win the decathlon since 2019.
Junior Melanie Duron defended her conference title from last season, winning the shot put with a throw of 56-7 ½ ft. Duron also became the first ever Bobcat to win the shot put title in consecutive seasons.
Junior Chris Preddie won the long jump with a jump of 25-9 ¼ ft. The gold medal win marked the third consecutive year Preddie has taken 1st place in the long jump competition at the conference meet.
In the final day of the conference meet, the high jump duo of junior Aiden Hayes and senior Kason O’Riley took 1st and 2nd place, with Hayes winning gold. Hayes won with a jump of 7-4 ½ with O’Riley also meeting the mark. The duo tied the conference record that was set in 1994.
Junior Abigail Parra took home the final gold medal for the Bobcats, winning the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:23.76.
The Men’s team scored a total of 145 points across three days with Arkansas State coming in second with 126 and Louisiana in third with 114. The Women’s team scored 119 points to take first place with Louisiana coming in second with 108 and Southern Miss coming in third with 97.
The Bobcats will host the Texas State Twilight Meet this Saturday.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
Junior Chris Preddie took home his third consective conference gold medal in the long jump. Photo submitted by Texas State Athletics
