PITTSBURG, KANSAS – UT Tyler track & field wasted no time in getting off to a strong start to their indoor season at the Crimson & Gold Invite hosted by Pittsburg State.
 
School records fell in both the women's high jump and the women's 400 meters while five different Patriots put together NCAA provisional marks on Saturday afternoon.
 
After a huge day on Friday in the Boo Rogers Multi, Aerin Thompson got right back to work with another big day on Saturday. She set the school record in the high jump Friday, but immediately broke it again on Saturday as she cleared 1.71 meters on her way to a top finish in the open division. She was joined by teammate Juliane Frueh who also cleared a height of 1.71 meters on the day to take joint ownership of the school record.
 
Both Thompson and Frueh improve upon their previous NCAA provisional marks from Friday by .02 meters and are tied for the second best mark in all of NCAA Division II thus far.
 
Thompson's day was not done, as she tacked on another top 10 finish in the women's long jump. Her mark of 5.56 meters secured a ninth place finish in the event. That jump came in the very first run of her day, and initially placed her in a tie for fourth, but she was unable to improve the mark and fell to ninth.
 
The third NCAA provisional mark of the day and the second school record came in the women's 400 meters as Jasmine Haywood wasted no time in making a mark in her first event for the Patriots.
 
Her time of 55.86 seconds shatters the school record by 3.05 seconds in the event and establishes herself amongst the top five in Division II in the event. She would place third overall in the event and place second amongst LSC competition.
 
Joining Haywood in the event was Kamaria Carr, who also broke the previous school record in a time of 57.07. Carr just misses out on an NCAA provisional mark by .07 seconds as she placed 12^th overall.
 
Over in the women's pole vault, phenom Abeni Kratzmeyer earned her own NCAA provisional mark after placing ninth overall. She would take two attempts to clear a height of 3.73 meters on her way to the top placement amongst all LSC competitors.
 
In the men's 60 meter hurdles, Ashton Turner earned the fifth and final provisional mark on the day for the Patriots. He put together a time of 8.18 seconds in the event for a 16^th place finish, but cleared the NCAA provisional mark by .02 seconds and currently hold on to a top 20 time in Division II.
 
Freshman Jeremiah Evans was another Patriot who took advantage of his first opportunity to compete in the blue and orange. He took part in the men's 600 yard dash, and ran his way to a third place finish in the 30 man field. His time of 1:13.80 was well clear of the next LSC competitor and was just 1.99 seconds out of first place.
 
Next up for the Patriots will be a return trip to Pittsburg, Kansas as they battle it out in the Rumble in the Jungle on January 20^th hosted by Pittsburg State.