SHAWNEE, Okla. (April 20, 2019) – What already had been a successful freshman track and field season for Oklahoma Christian's Verrell McBride took an interesting turn on Saturday at the Great American Conference Outdoor Championships at Hurt Memorial Track.

McBride, from Norman, finished third in the 100 meters with a time of 10.50, becoming the first OC track and field athlete this year to post a NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time. McBride now is tied for 20th in Division II in the event and could, with a smidge of improvement in the next few weeks, perhaps qualify for the national meet.

He was one of four Eagles to earn All-GAC first-team honors in the league meet, while OC also had nine All-GAC second-team honors. OC finished fifth in the seven-team meet, but with 69 points, the Eagles pushed fourth-place Harding (Ark.), which had 77, and third-place East Central with 83. Oklahoma Baptist won the title with 201 points, well ahead of second-place Southern Arkansas with 148.

In addition to his first-team All-GAC honor in the 100, McBride secured two second-team awards Saturday. He placed fourth in the 200 meters in 21.27 seconds and ran the anchor leg on the Eagles' 4x400-meter relay team that was third in 3:15.33. Joining him on the relay team were freshman Tahj Johnson and sophomores Ian Colbert and Javier Hernandez.

Hernandez, from Allentown, Pa., was OC's top individual finisher in the meet, recording a second-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, an event dominated by his former teammate, Landon Huslig, the last three seasons. Hernandez nearly kept the title in the OC family, beating the favorite, Huslig's brother Logan Huslig (now a freshman at OBU), but his career-best time of 54.87 seconds was second behind Wesley Franklin of Southern Arkansas (53.69 seconds). Hernandez did earn All-GAC first-team honors.

Two other Eagles posted third-place event finishes to earn first-team recognition – Colbert in the 400 meters (48.34 seconds) and freshman Jelte van Atten in the 1,500 meters (4:00.16).

Among OC runners, second-team honorees included freshman Reid Little (fourth in the 800 meters in 1:56.38) and junior Kelton Reynolds (sixth in the 5,000 meters in 15:58.18). Reynolds was coming off a second-team All-GAC outing on Friday in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, an event in which he placed fourth.

Five OC field-event competitors earned All-GAC second-team honors. In the high jump, freshman Jaxon Chantrill was fifth with a jump of 6 feet, ½ inch (1.84 meters). Freshman Jonathan Olsson, who was All-GAC second-team in the hammer on Friday, placed sixth in the shot put to earn a second award with a mark of 49 feet, 9¾ inches (13.35 meters).

In the long jump, sophomore Joseph Owens was fifth with a mark of 23 feet, ¾ inch (7.03 meters), and freshman Keenan Lee took fifth in the pole vault at 13 feet, 9¼ inches (4.20 meters). In the triple jump, senior Austin Davis posted a mark of 42 feet, 5½ inches (12.94 meters) to take sixth. It was the second straight year Davis earned All-GAC second-team honors in the event.

The GAC meet was the last one for OC, which will begin competing next season in the Lone Star Conference.

While the outdoor season will be over for some OC track and field athletes, some others will continue on for a few more weeks. Up next for those Eagles will be the prestigious Drake Relays, which will run from Thursday through Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ian Colbert in the 400 meters: https://youtu.be/ehZA5GhGE_M
Jelte van Atten in the 1,500 meters: https://youtu.be/hEWMEDNQ7I8
Verrell McBride in the 100 meters: https://youtu.be/KMVoJjDxY_E
Verrell McBride in the 200 meters: https://youtu.be/aJf46N2wN7g
Andre Norman/Joseph Owens in the 100 meters: https://youtu.be/jeMWCYtm4yk
Men's 4x400-meter relay: https://youtu.be/S_myO3p_FLY