La Tech Athletic
Communications
PITTSBURG, Kan. – A 27-year-old school record was shattered on Saturday, while Louisiana Tech Track and Field brought home four first-place finishes when the men and women competed in the Pittsburg State Invitational on Saturday in Pittsburg, Kansas.
The day began with LA Tech junior Kacie Kaufman (Communications, 4.0 GPA) breaking yet another school record with a time of 18:17.48 in the women’s 5,000m run, 55 seconds faster than the previous record-holder’s time of 19:12.45, which was set in 1991 by Heather Culpepper. This marks the second straight competition Kaufman has broken a long-standing school record after the junior broke a 28-year-old record two weeks ago in the 3,000m run.
Louisiana Tech notched a total of 28 Top 10 finishes combined on the day in field and running events, including 17 top five finishes and four first place performances.
Tech senior Tamario Lattin took home first place in the men’s long jump with a mark of 25-0 (7.62m), while teammate Denzel Harper followed in second place with a jump of 24-3.5 (7.40m) on the day.
The Lady Techsters 4x400m relay team of Brandi Dobbin, Elia Nero, Sharone Johnson and Taylor Shaw also recorded a first-place finish on Saturday with a time of 3:45.38 in the event. Nero represented the women well on the day as she also placed first in the women’s 600-yard run with a time of 1:23.55. Shaw also finished second in the women’s 60m finals (7.58) and third in the women’s 200m dash (24.66) and eighth in the 60m finals (7.70), while Dobbin placed 10th in the 400m dash (57.55).
The women’s high jump event featured three Top 10 finishes by the Lady Techsters, led by freshman Sydney Anderson in first place with a jump of 5-7.75. Senior Chloe Lautric followed in third place with a mark of 5-6.5, while Kourtni Goldsmith finished in ninth with a jump of 5-3.25 on Saturday.
Additionally, after finishing third in the preliminaries, Tech’s Janiel McDonald advanced to the finals of the women’s 60m hurdles, where she placed fourth with a time of 8.73.
In the field events, LA Tech had five top 10 finishers combined in the men’s and women’s triple jump competition with freshman Dominque Anderson (38-8.25) placing fourth for the women and Caleb Clark (48-8.25) finishing fourth on the men’s side. Lattin and
Khalil Jones also finished the men’s triple jump in seventh and eighth, respectively, while Dominique Lewis placed 10th in the event on the women’s side.
This weekend, the Bulldogs and Lady Techsters will return to action on Sunday, when the teams travel to compete in the South Alabama Jaguar Invitational in Birmingham in what will mark the final tune-up before the 2018 C-USA Indoor Championships on Feb. 17-18.