JONESBORO, Ark. (4/21/22) – Athletes from 15 teams will converge “between the tracks” this weekend, as Arkansas State track and field hosts the Red Wolves Open Friday and Saturday at the A-State Track and Field Complex.

The event begins at 3 p.m. Friday with the women’s hammer throw, with the men following. The first running event – the men’s 200 meters – is set for 5:45 p.m. and is one of four track events on the first day. Admission to the meet is free.

Saturday features a full day of activity beginning at 10 a.m. with the men’s 5000 meters. The first field event is slated for 10:30 a.m. with the men’s shot put. A-State will also honor its seniors prior to the sprint events on Saturday afternoon.

TEAMS COMPETING: Arkansas State (host), Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Baptist, Little Rock, Central Baptist College, Christian Brothers, Harding, Hendrix, Missouri Southern State, North Alabama, Ouachita Baptist, Rhodes, South Dakota State, UT Martin, Williams Baptist

FULL SCHEDULE | LIVE RESULTS

5 THINGS TO NOTE:

1.     ANOTHER AWARD FOR AIMAR: Thrower Aimar Palma Simo earned his second Sun Belt Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honor on Wednesday after multiple strong performances in the hammer throw in California last week. The Castellon, Spain, native leads the Sun Belt with a mark of 67.75m (222-3.0), which ranks eighth in the West and 19th in the NCAA.

2.     … SPEAKING OF THE SUN BELT’S BEST … : Palma Simo isn’t the only A-State athlete leading his respective event in the Sun Belt Conference entering the weekend. Seth Waters leads the men’s 800 meters and 1500 meters, while Jacob Pyeatt and Bennett Pascoe pace the field in the 10,000 meters and the steeplechase, respectively. Carter Shell owns the league’s best long jump mark of year and is the lone Sun Belt athlete to jump further than 8.00 meters.

Kayla Wade boasts the top time in the women’s 5000 meters, while Sophie Leathers leads the women’s 10,000.

3.     WILD, WILD WEST: Eleven total athletes are currently inside the top 48 in their event in the NCAA West Region, which is qualifying position for the preliminary rounds later in May. Three men are inside the top 10: Carter Shell (2^nd – long jump), Aimar Palma Simo (8^th – hammer throw) and Bradley Jelmert (9^th – pole vault), while Frank Massey is 30^th in the high jump. On the track, Seth Waters is 34^th in the 800 meters while Bennett Pascoe is 24^th in the steeplechase.

On the women’s side, Sophie Leathers leads the way at 19^th in the 10,000 meters with Camryn Newton-Smith at 27^th in the long jump. Chastery Fuamatu and Grace Flowers are 45^th and 47^th respectively in the hammer throw and Evangelynn Harris is 48^th in the shot put.

4.     NATIONAL RANKINGS, TOO… : Shell enters the week with the second-best wind-legal jump in the NCAA at 8.06m (26-5.5), while Bradley Jelmert is 16^th in the pole vault (5.36m/17-7.0). Aimar Palma Simo is also inside the top 20, ranking 19^th in the hammer throw.

5.     #EVENTSQUAD: Arkansas State’s women rank inside the top 30 in four events in the USTFCCCA’s weekly #EventSquad rankings, which places a rank order to a program’s group of athletes in a particular event, using season-best qualifying marks from the team’s top-four ranked athletes. A-State is 13^th in the discus (4777m/156-9.0) and 15^th in the shot put (14.72m/48-3.75), as well as 23^rd in the 100-meter hurdles (14.15) and 26^th in the hammer throw (51.78m/169-11.0).

SOCIAL MEDIA

For the latest on the A-State track and field program, follow @AStateTrack on Twitter and @Arkansas_State_Track on Instagram, while also liking the team’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/AStateTrackAndField.

Original article source: https://astateredwolves.com/news/2022/4/21/track-field-red-wolves-open-begins-friday-between-the-tracks.aspx | Article may or may not reflect the views of KLEK 102.5 FM or The Voice of Arkansas Minority Advocacy Council