STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS – After a one-day delay due to weather, Lions T&F kicked off the outdoor season today at the Tarleton State Invitational at Oscar H. Frazier Memorial Track.
 
A&M-Commerce's most impressive display once again came from the herculean arms of senior Masoud Moghaddam. The native of Iran won the men's hammer throw with a lob of 62.38 meters, provisionally qualifying him for NCAA Nationals. Not only did Moghaddam win the event by over ten meters, but he broke the A&M-Commerce school record, a mark which had stood for twelve years prior to Friday's events. The Lions would go 1, 2, 3 in the event, with Kellen Dion and Chase Graham following Moghaddam with distances of 52.12m and 46.75m. Dion would also take first place in the javelin throw with a toss of 49.24m and fifth in the discus throw (42.65m). Elsewhere in the throws, Joseph Brown picked up a third place finish in the shot put with a hurl of 14.53 meters.
 
The Lion men scored a pair of wins in the jumps as well. Gage Bowles picked up a win in the long jump with a 6.81 meter leap, followed by teammate Reggie Kincaid who finished fifth on the strength of a 6.60 meter effort. In the high jump, James Lundy came through for the Lions with a 1.95 meter effort, with Jamal Curtis finishing closely behind him in third.
 
Kincaid's prowess wasn't limited to the sand pit. The freshman finished second overall in the 100m dash with a time of 10.81 seconds. He also pulled off a fourth place finish in the 200m dash, finishing just behind Owen Harrison, who finished third overall with a time of 22.06. A&M-Commerce also logged a third place finish in the 4x100 relay (Josiah Dennis, Eric Williams, DJ Richardson, Kevin Garcia) with a time of 3:19.61. Rounding out the sprints, Josiah Dennis took home a third place finish in the 400m with a time of 48.82.
 
In the distance events, Turner Pool ran a time of 15:39.28 in the 5k run, which was good enough for fifth overall. Kevin Garcia also procured a fifth place finish with a time of 1:59.37 in the 800m run.
 
For the women, Selasie Koto had an excellent day in the jumps, finishing second in the long jump (5.02m) and first in the triple jump (10.85m) ahead of teammate Ginnie Lee, who grabbed second.
 
Rebecca Mueller made a strong outdoor debut for the Lions in the assorted throws. The native of Germany took first place in the discus with a 43.96 meter throw, and also took fourth in the javelin (29.13m) and fifth in the shot put (11.20m). Her performance in the discus was good enough to net the freshman a provisional qualifier, which currently stands as the top time in the country.
 
Out on the track, senior Tyler Cottingham finished second in the 800m run with a time of 2:21.88. The 4x100 relay team (Kamryn McKee, Ana Baleveicau, Cottingham and Ashley Bassett) won the event with a time of 3:56.99. In the hurdles, Bassett and Baleveicau ran 2 and 3 in the 400mh, Jessica Clay and Felicia Boyefio finished 3 and 4 in the 100mh.
 
As an interesting aside, assistant A&M-Commerce coach Chrystal Ruiz elected to suit up for the meet as an unattached competitor, and won three events outright, logging a 14.90 in the 100 meter hurdles, 1:02.90 in the 400 meter hurdles, and 32.28 meters in the javelin throw.
 
The Lions next outdoor meet comes after next weekend's NCAA Div. II Indoor Championships, when A&M-Commerce travels to San Angelo to take part in the ASU Spring Break Multi which begins Wednesday, March 18.