SALT LAKE CITY, Utah– The Southern Utah University Track and Field team capped an impressive weekend at the Utah Spring Classic and the Jim Click Shootout as the Thunderbirds recorded two event wins and several top-ten finishes. Jentry Skidmore, Santiago Gaitan, and Max Jones highlighted the weekend for the Thunderbirds.  Skidmore finished inside the top five against some of the nation's best heptathlon athletes, while Gaitan and Jones claimed first place in their respective events. 

Utah Spring Classic 

The men's 1,500-meter team led the charge for Southern Utah at Utah, securing three of the top four finishes in the event. Santiago Gaitan led the way by bolting to an event-winning time of 3:44.35, which moved him up to sixth all-time for SUU. Travis Feeny followed close behind and finished in third place with a 3:46.06, and Payton Riggs was right on his tail in fourth place with a 3:47.39 to push him in tenth all-time for SUU. This performance now ranks these three men first, second, and third in the event in the WAC.  

SUU claimed another event win in the 5000 meters as Max Jones earned his first win of the outdoor season with a 14:37.09, topping the rest of his competition by nine seconds. 

After a record-breaking performance last weekend, Haley Tanne had another top-three finish in the women's 1500 meters. Tanne ran a time of 4:31.20 to take third place, and Madisan DeBos finished in 11th place with a time of 4:45.29.

Easton Smtih leaped to his first top-three finish in the men's long jump. Smith grabbed third place with a 22'3 ¾". 

Nick Pembroke earned two top-ten finishes in the 200 and 400 meters. Pembroke burned to a second-place finish in the 400 meters with a 48.51, missing out on the event win by fractions of a second. He also fought his way into the top ten in the 200 meters taking ninth place with a 22.67.

On the women's side, Adysen Pace grabbed two fifth-place finishes in the same two races. Pace jolted to a time of 25.98 in the 200 meters, while also clocking a time of 57.22 in the 400 meters. 

Following a top-ten finish in her collegiate debut in the pole vault last weekend, Shelyse Ellingford continued a successful start to her career by taking sixth place with a 10'11 ¾", and moving her into fourth place all-time in the SUU record books in the event. 

Peyton Wolverington dashed to two top-ten finishes in the 100 and 200 meters. Wolverington took seventh place in the 100 meters with an 11.06 and seventh place in the 200 with a 22.51

The Thunderbirds added the Jim Click Shootout and Multis on the campus of Arizona University as an extra meet for this weekend, and multiple heptathlon and decathlon athletes had stellar weekends. 

Jim Click Shootout 

Jentry Skidmore took fifth place with 5373 total points against some of the best heptathlon athletes in the country, including the No.2 athlete in the NCAA. This finish improved Skidmore's hold on second place all-time in the SUU history books and gave the school record of 5454 a scare. Skidmore earned three-lifetime bests, running a 14.52 in the 100-meter hurdles, blazing to a 25.31 in the 200 meters, and an 800-meter time of 2:21.59. She also achieved an outdoor personal record in the high jump with a 5'5", and in the shot put with a throw of 35' ¼".

In his decathlon debut, Jared Sharp had a stellar showing clinching sixth place with a score of 6320 and moving him into eighth in the SUU record books. Competing against some of the nation's heptathlon athletes Sharp had several dominant performances, including winning the final event of the competition, the 1500 meters, with a time of 4:18.96, outpacing the rest of his competition by more than 16 seconds. 

Seadra Hamilton had a solid outing setting a new personal record in the 100 meters hurdles by sprinting to a time of 14.49 to take sixth in the event. 

Up Next

Southern Utah track and field will prepare for another busy weekend of split competition in California as they will compete in Azuza Pacific's Bryan Clay Invite, the Mount Sac Relays, and Pacific Intercollegiate and Beach Invite held by Long Beach State on Thursday, Apr. 13, through Saturday, Apr.15. 

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