Rebecca Green takes first place in the shot put, Cameron Hodges takes third in the triple jump, and Thulisile Amon breaks school record in the 800m.
Source: NM State Athletics
By: Emilio Garcia
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Suiting up one last time this indoor season, the Aggies returned to the Liberty Indoor Track Complex for day two of the CUSA Indoor Track & Field Championship. Rebecca Green earned the spotlight, taking home the lone first-place finish for NM State in the shot put. Cameron Hodges earned a third team All-CUSA selection after posting a third-place finish in the triple jump. Thulisile Amon broke the school record in the 800m, a mark that has stood since 2007, and a smattering of Crimson & White members finished in the top eight to help the Aggies finish with 62 points.
NM State closes their first CUSA Championship with a fifth-place finish, totaling 62 points. Liberty was named conference champions after totaling 169 points, with UTEP (99 points) and Middle Tennessee (95 points) rounding out the top three.
Starting the day with the shot put, the Aggies put together a dominant performance – recording a trio of top-eight finishes. Rebecca Green notched the first gold medal of the Championship for NM State, posting a distance of 15.94m (52-2.75″). This marks the junior’s best finish in a championship event and second podium placement. Alesha Lanefollowed with a fifth-place result, recording a mark of 13.76m (45-1.50″), her second best in indoor competition. This becomes the highest finish in a championship setting for the sophomore from Casper, Wyoming.
Ladina Kobler rounded out the Aggies to earn points in the shot put, the true freshman recording a best distance of 13.55m (44-5.25″) to take seventh.
Sophomore Cameron Hodges tied her best collegiate finish and posted her best championship placement, taking third in the triple jump with a distance of 11.85m (38-10.50″) to secure third team All-CUSA honors.
Aliyah Logan flashed her prowess at the 60m hurdles, crossing the line in fourth with a time of 8.26 seconds, the lone Aggie in the event.
Mickaliliah Vassell and Terice Steen worked in tandem to secure fifth and sixth-place finishes for the Crimson & White, posting times of 55.24 and 55.83 respectively in the 400m dash.
Competing in the 800m run, Thulisile Amon posted a time of 2:09.2, breaking the school record record time of 2:10.76, held by Beth Sandoval since 2007. With a fourth-place finish, Amon earned NM State five points toward their championship total.
The second event to feature three Aggies in the top eight was the 200m dash, with Jhana Downie, Sierra Brewer and Mickaliliah Vassell all competing. Downie paced the Aggies with a fourth-place finish after posting a time of 24.04 seconds. Brewer (seventh, 24.65) and Vassell (eighth, 24.87) rounded out the NM State entrants.
Seniors paved the way in the 3000m run as Maggie Gibbs (9:43.6) and Emily Stutesman (9:49.1) posted top-eight finishes, securing points with sixth and eighth-place finishes respectively. Thobile Amon just missed the cut, taking tenth with a time of 9:52.5 while recording a personal best in the event. Every other Aggie who competed in the event recorded a new personal best, including Nia Allison (10:20.59), Vanessa Gracian (10:21.5), Kayla O’Connell (10:23.47) and Jordan Torres (10:32.23).
FINAL STANDINGS
- Liberty 169 pts.
- UTEP 99 pts.
- Middle Tennessee 95 pts.
- UTEP 84 pts.
- NM State 62 pts.
- LA Tech 53 pts.
- Sam Houston 46.5 pts.
- Western Kentucky 33 pts.
- Jacksonville State 21.5 pts.
