The Kent State track and field team sent athletes to three separate meets over the weekend, totaling 20 first-place finishes. 

KSU was represented in the Gibson Invitational at Indiana State, The Bryan Clay Invitational at Asuza Pacific University and the Cherry Blossom Invitational at Ohio University.

The multis traveled to Terre Haute, IN to compete in the Gibson Invitational on Thursday and Friday.

Junior Alex Shields placed first in the men’s decathlon with a personal record of 7,254, setting the record for the highest score ever recorded at the Gibson Track and Field Complex.

Shields placed first in the men’s 100-meter dash with a 10.86 run, as well as the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a 14.26 run.

“Any athlete that can set a facility record did something special,” coach Nathan Fanger said. “They’ll remember that for the rest of their lives.”

Shields also finished second in the men’s javelin, discus and shot put, as well as third in the men’s long jump.

Another notable performance came from freshman Matilde Carboncini who placed second in the women’s heptathlon, including a first-place finish in the women’s javelin throw with a distance of 36.80 meters.

On Saturday, the distance runners traveled to Azusa, CA to compete in the Bryan Clay Invitational.

Sophomore Baidy Ba finished in 103rd place out of 164 in the men’s 1500-meter run invite with a time of 3:46.26.

Sophomore Anna Jones competed in the women’s 1500 run Open A, finishing with a time of 4:35.23 to place 97th out of 188.

The rest of the team competed at the Cherry Blossom Invitational in Athens, OH on Saturday.

The Flashes had 17 athletes finish in first place throughout the day.

The KSU men’s 4 x 100-meter relay team placed first with a time of 40.51

Graduate student Asa Hodrick placed first in the men’s 100-meter dash with a personal record of 10.27. Hodrick was selected as the Mid-American Conference Track Athlete of the Week following the Northeast Ohio Open last weekend.

“He dropped a good time last week in Akron and dropped an even better time this week,” Fanger said. “He killed it.”

Kent State placed first in both 3,000-meter runs, with graduate student Leah Lisle finishing with a PR of 10:07.40 and redshirt junior Shadrack Kipkosgei finishing in 8:28.28.

Sophomore Andrea Filote recorded a PR of 14.40 in the women’s 100-meter hurdles.

Both 400-meter hurdle competitions saw a KSU athlete place first. Graduate student Korie Davis II finished with a PR of 53.97 and junior Alexandria Verbancic ran a 1:02.66.

The Flashes placed first in both high jump competitions. Senior Lillie Franks reached a height of 1.70 meters while freshman Ayden Bath jumped 1.95 meters.

Junior Kristian Kneffler placed first in the men’s pole vault with a height of 4.90 meters.

Both triple jump competitions saw a Kent State athlete finish in first place.  Freshman Keeli Dunaway recorded a PR of 12.18 meters and sophomore Alexandre Malanda reached 15.17 meters.

Redshirt sophomore Aliesha Shaw placed first in the women’s shot put with a distance of 14.58 meters. Shaw also placed first in the women’s discus with a distance of 49.87 meters.

In the men’s discus, redshirt junior Nolan Landis placed first with a distance of 52.08 meters.

Graduate student Grace Luther threw for 52.47 meters in the women’s hammer throw competition to place first.

In the men’s javelin competition, redshirt junior Scott Benco placed first with a throw of 62.40 meters.

According to Fanger, the meet was delayed by around 45 minutes due to a brief rain shower.

This upcoming weekend, most of the team will travel to Columbus for the Jesse Owens Classic hosted by Ohio State. 

According to Fanger, some of the distance runners that traveled to Azusa Pacific for the Bryan Clay invitational will also travel to Charlottesville for the Virginia Challenge, though he hinted that others may travel to another meet.

“I might be sending four or five kids down to Baylor,” Fanger said. “The majority is gonna go down to Jesse Owens.”

The Jesse Owens Classic and Virginia Challenge are scheduled for Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22.

Michael Neenan is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].