Track & Field 12/7/2024 11:00:00 PM Chris Brannick

Young, Lee, Lead Bronchos In Kansas

Central Oklahoma Opens Indoor Season Saturday in Topeka

TOPEKA, Kan. – Central Oklahoma began Indoor track & field season Saturday at Washburn's Alumni Invitational and the Bronchos showed positive results in the debut event.

A pair of top three finishes and a handful of personal-bests led the way for the Bronchos.

"It was a great first meet for us," UCO head women's track & field coach Gus Schmader said. "We've got some work to do, but for us to come out in the first meet and set a lot of PRs is really good for the team. And a couple of high finishes was great to see too."

Genevieve Young finished second in the 600-yard race and Deriayah Lee took third in the 60-meter hurdles to headline the day for the Bronchos.

Young finished in 1:28.62, which met the meet record mark although that ultimately went to the first-place finisher. Her sub-90 second race is a new PR for the senior from Cache, Oklahoma.

Lee also set a new PR in her event Saturday. The sophomore from Muskogee, Oklahoma ran a 9.14 in the prelims to finish fifth and qualify for the finals. She crossed the finish line in 9.04 for the third-place finish in the finals.

Central Oklahoma had four more Top 10 finishes on Saturday in Topeka. Mattison Thetford cleared 3.40 meters in the pole vault for a fifth-place finish and Talyn Been cleared 2.95 meters for a 10th-place finish. Abigail Kelly tossed 11.76 meters (an Indoor PR) in the shot put for a seventh-place finish. And Jakayla Swanson led a group of six Bronchos in the 400-meters with a 10th-place finish at 1:00.37 (PR).

Lee was marginally out of the Top 10 in the 400, finishing 12th with a time of 1:00.67, 0.30 behind Swanson. Faith Millner (1:01.84) finished 16th, Amiya Hill (1:01.98) finished 19th, Aaliyah Evans (1:04.18) finished 27th, and Tyana Hymes (1:04.57) finished 29th.

Much of that group competed in the 200 as well. Hill finished 25th at 26.66 seconds. Mikayla Stephenson (26.94) finished 30th, Evans (27.20) finished 36th, Hymes (27.29) finished 38th, and Karly Clemons (28.89) finished 67th.

Stephenson (8.12) and Clemons (8.55) also ran the 60-meter dash and finished 31st and 53rd respectively. Asia Williams and Ariane Williams both ran the 1-mile and finished 14th and 16th with times of 5:46.71 and 6:12.42 respectively.

Central Oklahoma opened Indoor Season Saturday with the event in Topeka. The Bronchos will break for a month before returning in 2025 with the First Chance Qualifier at Friends University in Wichita in January.

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Players Mentioned

Talyn Been: Pole Vault; Junior

Karly Clemons: Sprints; Sophomore

Abigail Kelly: Throws; Sophomore

Deriayah Lee: Hurdles; 5' 3"; Sophomore

Mikayla Stephenson: Sprints; 5' 5"; Sophomore

Mattison Thetford: Pole Vault; Junior

Genevieve Young: Distance; 5' 3"; Senior

Ariane Williams: Distance; 5' 7"; Sophomore

Asia Williams: Distance; 5' 4"; Senior

Aaliyah Evans: Sprints; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Talyn Been
: Junior
: Pole Vault

Karly Clemons
: Sophomore
: Sprints

Abigail Kelly
: Sophomore
: Throws

Deriayah Lee
: 5' 3"; Sophomore
: Hurdles

Mikayla Stephenson
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: Sprints

Mattison Thetford
: Junior
: Pole Vault

Genevieve Young
: 5' 3"; Senior
: Distance

Ariane Williams
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: Distance

Asia Williams
: 5' 4"; Senior
: Distance

Aaliyah Evans
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: Sprints