WICHITA, Kan. (April 10, 2021) – Oklahoma Christian records fell in the first and last events on Saturday in the Wichita State Open at Cessna Stadium and there was plenty of success for the Eagles in between as well.
A stellar sprint quartet broke OCs 4x100-meter record and combined for three other top-10 individual finishes before
Kenya Bailey – running in her first collegiate 10,000-meter race – established a new OC mark in that event.
In the opening event of the track and field meet, the OC squad of senior
Lawanda Harvey, senior
Destiny Johnson, sophomore
Bryah Davis and freshman
Atlanta Hopgood finished fifth in 47.80 seconds. That shattered the previous school record of 48.23 seconds, which had been set by
Kayla Parker,
Ivy Lobley,
Jordyn Williams and Harvey at the 2017 Great American Conference Championships in Searcy, Ark.
The OC sprinters also shined in individual events. In a 45-woman field in the 100 meters, Davis, from Cedar Hill, Texas, finished sixth in a career-best 12.18 seconds and Harvey, from Frisco, Texas, took ninth in 12.25 seconds. Hopgood, from Oklahoma City, placed 20th in 12.52 seconds.
In the 200 meters, Davis took eighth among 40 runners in 25.39 seconds with Johnson 18th in 26.47 seconds, with both posting career-best times.
Bailey, a junior from Ponca City, Okla., capped the meet for the Eagles by placing fifth among eight runners in the 10,000 meters in 37:20.01. That broke one of the program's oldest records, set in 1993 by OC Athletic Hall of Famer Peggy Murphy when she covered 10K in 38:23.24. Murphy (now known as Peggy Skiba) once held nine OC school records but that number has dwindled to two – the outdoor 3,000 meters and marathon.
Also in the Wichita State meet, OC senior
Kelsey Castillo of Edmond, Okla., ran a career-best time of 2:16.73 to finish sixth among 32 runners in the 800 meters and added a fifth-place finish in the 1,500 meters in 4:44.52.
Freshman
Leah Oguntope of Houston was the Eagles' top field-event performer, finishing 12th among 24 throwers in the shot put with a top mark of 36 feet, 10¼ inches (11.23 meters).
OC's team will be split next weekend, with some Eagles competing in the Sooner Invitational in Norman, Okla., on Friday and Saturday, while others will return to Wichita State for the K.T. Woodman Classic on Saturday.
