The Kent State track and field team opened its 2025 outdoor season split across two field sites in the Lone Star state of Texas. Athletes were split up into two meets from Thursday to Saturday; the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin and the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos.
The Flashes are coming off a successful indoor campaign in which athletes, such as senior Alexandre Malanda and sophomore Amryne Chilton, broke program records in the men’s triple jump and women’s 60-meter dash, respectively.
What happened?
On Friday, the Flashes kicked off competition at the Texas Relays in Austin with a bang, as juniors Keeli Dunaway and Svenia De Coninck would place in the top five across two separate events. Dunway would finish fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 41’-11.5”, and De Coninck would place first in the high jump with a mark of 5’-8”.
Chilton would run a personal best time of 12.06 seconds in the women’s 100-meter dash at the Texas Relays. She would then embark on a trip 30 miles away from Austin to San Marcos, where Chilton would place fourth in the women’s 200-meter dash in the Bobcat Invitational.
On Saturday, Malanda continued to soar for Kent State, as he set his outdoor personal best in the triple jump at a mark of 52’-4”, which was good enough for fifth in Austin. This performance would not go unnoticed, as Malanda was recently named Mid-American Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week.
Also in Austin was KSU graduate student Jaheim Jones, who finished with two top-10 placements in the men’s 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, posting times of 10.22 seconds and 20.72 seconds.
Over in San Marcos on Saturday, junior Ayden Bath would capitalize on his third-place performance in the men’s long jump on Friday with a sixth-place finish in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14 seconds flat.
What’s next?
The Flashes will head to Slippery Rock, Pa., to compete against Slippery Rock University and other schools in the Dave Labor Invitational meeting held Friday and Saturday.
Gage Wellman is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected] or @GageWellmanKSTV on X.