Track & Field 1/11/2024 7:21:00 PM Chris Brannick

Central Dominates In Return To Indoor Season

WICHITA, Kan. – Central Oklahoma returned to Indoor season Thursday and dominated throughout the day at Friends University's First Chance Qualifier.

The event, held at Wichita State's Heskett Center, featured competitors from UCO, Friends, Wichita State, Langston, Southwest Christian (Kan.), McPherson, Bethany, Sterling, and Jarvis Christian.

SEE COMPLETE RESULTS HERE

Mattison Thetford, Kelsey Drapeau, Genevieve Young, and Sai Brookins-Fleming all had first place finishes individually. Brookins-Fleming and Young, along with Kerrigan Huynh and Jakayla Swanson, also finished first in the 4x400 relay.

The Bronchos had a second-place finish from Deriayah Lee in the 60-meter hurdles, four third-place finishes, a fourth-place showings, and two fifth-place finishes. Two more eighth-place finishes and a 10th-place mark gave Central 15 Top 10s on the day.

Thetford, along with Talyn Been, began the day with the pole vault. Thetford tied for first with a height of 3.47 meters, a new Indoor PR for the sophomore from Moore. She cleared 3.17 on her third attempt, 3.32 on her second, and 3.47 on her second. Both Thetford and Brooke Bayles (Unattached) failed to clear 3.57 meters. Been cleared 3.17 on her third attempt to finish third in the event.

In the long jump, Drapeau cleared 5.32 meters on her fifth jump of the day. She bested Wichita State's Sonya Haylor (5.11) for the title.

In the weight throw, veteran Dahsauni Lyday finished fifth with a heave of 14.10 meters she hit on her third throw of the day. Teammate Lauren Wilson finished 16th in the event with a 10.47-meter throw on her first attempt.

Lyday also competed in the shot put and finished fourth with a 12.69-meter toss. Teammate Abigail Kelly finished 11th with a throw of 10.14 meters.

The running events began Thursday morning with preliminary races and Lee was up in the 60-meter hurdles. She finished second in her heat and in all prelims with a time of 9.36 seconds to advance to the finals Thursday afternoon.

There, as all the other running events rolled through, Lee finished second again with a better time of 9.13 seconds. Wichita State's Anna Heacock took first at 9.02 seconds.

The 400 was next for Central with three entries. Brookins-Fleming finished third with a time of 1:02.23, Huynh was fifth at 1:02.42, and Reta Ojene finished eighth at 1:03.61.

In the 800, Young was the only entry for Central and she took top honors for the first time in her career with a time of 2:30.81. She missed her PR of 2:24.39, which earned her second place at OU last month.

UCO had four student-athletes entered in the 200 and all four made Top 10 finishes. Brookins-Fleming won with a time of 25.81 seconds, Huynh got third at 26.80 seconds, Lee finished eighth at 27.56, and Ojene finished 10th with a time of 27.77 seconds.

Kylee Smith competed by herself in the 3,000 meters and took third with a time of 13:17.08.

In the final event of the day, UCO sent Brookins-Fleming, Huynh, Swanson, and Young out for the 4x400 relay. The group took first with a time of 4:09.52, besting the competition by five seconds.

Central Oklahoma is back on the track each of the next two weekends and both are at Pittsburg State in southeastern Kansas. UCO takes on the Rumble in the Jungle Jan. 19 and returns for the Wendy's Invitational Jan. 27.

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Players Mentioned

Talyn Been: Pole Vault; Sophomore

Dahsauni Lyday: Throws; 5' 4"; Senior

Kylee Smith: Distance; Sophomore

Mattison Thetford: Pole Vault; Sophomore

Sai Brookins-Fleming: Sprints; Freshman

Kelsey Drapeau: Jumps; Senior

Kerrigan Huynh: Sprints; Freshman

Abigail Kelly: Throws; Freshman

Deriayah Lee: Hurdles; 5' 3"; Freshman

Reta Ojene: Sprints; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Talyn Been
: Sophomore
: Pole Vault

Dahsauni Lyday
: 5' 4"; Senior
: Throws

Kylee Smith
: Sophomore
: Distance

Mattison Thetford
: Sophomore
: Pole Vault

Sai Brookins-Fleming
: Freshman
: Sprints

Kelsey Drapeau
: Senior
: Jumps

Kerrigan Huynh
: Freshman
: Sprints

Abigail Kelly
: Freshman
: Throws

Deriayah Lee
: 5' 3"; Freshman
: Hurdles

Reta Ojene
: Sophomore
: Sprints