ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – A&M-Commerce Indoor Track wrapped up its first day of competition at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational as multiple athletes hit personal bests against a field of top-flight opponents.
 
For the third consecutive meet in a row, Masoud Moghaddam improved upon his own Lone Star Conference record in the weight throw. The senior out of Mashhad, Iran surpassed his previous mark of 19.25 by over a meter, lobbing the winning toss 20.40 meters and once again proving why he's a feather in the cap for the No. 21 ranked men's indoor program in the nation.
 
In the long jump, Devontae Steele led the way for the Lions with a 6.84 meter hop, placing 23^rd overall against a field of top NCAA Division I stalwarts. The real success story in the event came for junior Gage Bowles, who finished just behind Steele in 26th place. Bowles jumped for 6.76 meters, which smashed his previous indoor personal best of 6.37 meters. Also of note in the jumps, freshman Jamal Curtis came within one one hundredth of a meter of surpassing his career high mark in the high jump, going 2.04m for a 15th place finish.
 
Reigning Co-LSC Indoor Men's Field Athlete of the Week Matt Rich followed his automatic qualifying performance last week by matching his personal best mark in the pole vault with a 4.70 meter liftoff for a 17th overall finish.
 
Out on the track, John David Rollins led the way in the 400m dash with a 49.27 second time for an 11th place finish, while Luis Romero circumnavigated the one mile course with a time of 4:22.06 for a fourth place finish. Sophomore Scout Hale led the way for the Lions in the 800m run, crossing the finish line eighth overall with a time of 1:58.69, just over a second faster than his previous personal best.
 
On the women's side of things, freshman Hailey Nelson showed significant improvement in the high jump with a 1.59m mark for a 33rd overall finish, setting a new personal high in the process. Kamryn McKee and Ana Baleveicau each had personal bests as well in the 400m dash, logging times of 58.90 seconds and 59.67 seconds for a 34th and 42nd place finish respectively.
 
Competition will resume tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. CST, starting with the women's shot put. The final event on the schedule is set to begin at 4:05 a.m. CST, when the women take the track for the 4x400 relay.