Saturday, Feb 4, 2012

OC’s Nathan Mesta won the 3,000 meters at the Texas Tech Open on Saturday.

LUBBOCK, Texas (Feb. 4, 2012) – Alyssa Garrett and Nathan Mesta provided Oklahoma Christian with its only two event wins on Saturday as OC’s track teams competed in the Texas Tech Open.

Garrett captured the 600-yard run over 11 competitors, posting a time of 1:33.72. She also anchored the Lady Eagles’ 4x400-meter relay team, which finished 13th among 20 teams in a meet that drew entrants from all levels of college track, from NCAA Division I to junior colleges.

“It was a big meet with lots of competition at a venue with a different kind of track,” OC head coach Randy Heath said.

Mesta’s time of 8:27.99 in the 3,000 meters easily qualified him for the NAIA Indoor Championships in the event and was the fifth-fastest so far this season in the NAIA. Teammate Brayden Barrientez also qualified for nationals in the event, finishing third in 8:30.86. Both he and Mesta posted personal-best times for 3,000 meters.

“Nate controlled the race, running at the front the entire way,” OC assistant coach Mark Thompson said.

Earlier this season, Mesta qualified for nationals in the 800 meters and 1,000 meters.

OC’s David McWilliams finished second behind Wayland Baptist (Texas) standout Kennedy Kithuka in the 5,000 meters, finishing in 14:57.09. It was the fifth-best time in the NAIA this season and qualified McWilliams for the NAIA meet. Teammate Joseph Zarazua was ninth in 16:13.67.

“McWilliams ran a tough race all on his own and had a solid run,” Thompson said. “We have almost all of the qualifiers we need, which will allow us to focus on training for nationals.”

In the 800 meters, OC’s Nick Stoots was 11th in a field of 34, finishing in 1:59.36, while Robert Macom finished ninth in the 1,000 meters in 2:40.25.

Renaldo Garrett finished second in his 55-meter hurdle heat in 7.92 seconds, but didn’t place in the event finals. Tracy Marshall was ninth in the long jump (21 feet, 10¼ inches) and Brandon Jackson was ninth in the triple jump (45 feet, 7 inches). Larry Brown posted personal-best efforts in the shot put (10th in his event section at 43 feet, 2¼ inches) and weight throw (16th at 44 feet, 6¾ inches).

All of OC’s runners in the women’s 3,000 meters – Erin Sesemann (seventh in 10:45.30), Noemi Hernandez (21st in 11:20.02) and Cady Block (24th in 11:30) – posted personal-best times in the event, but none of them qualified for the NAIA meet.

Cassandra Hallam was eighth in the 1,000 meters (3:14.05) for OC. In the 5,000 meters, Melyssa Cardenas was fourth (19:11.18) and Jacqueline Hallam was sixth (20:07.18).