PITTSBURG, KANSAS – UT Tyler track and field battled their way through a strong Division II field and put together big performances in a multitude of events in the Rumble in the Jungle hosted by Pittsburg State.
 
The day began with the field events, and the women's weight throw was first on the board. Brooklyn House, an outdoor USTFCCA All-American last season, was the first Patriot to make their mark as she booked a fifth place finish. Her mark of 15.41 meters came on her first throw of the day.
 
She would continue her tear over in the shot put, placing sixth overall with a mark of 12.30 meters. That mark would be just .15 meters outside of the top five.
 
In the men's version of the weight throw, sophomore Dustin Earhart placed eighth overall after a throw of 14.48 meters. That throw came on his second attempt of the day and finished 1.12 meters outside of the top five.
 
Julianne Frueh, one of the school record holder's in the women's high jump, placed sixth overall in her event on the day after a height of 1.66 meters. She would clear preliminary heights of 1.49 and 1.60 meters before taking three total attempts to clear her final mark of the contest.
 
MThabisi MPofu would take on the men's long jump event, and he joined the list of Patriots inside the top eight with a big day. He jumped a mark of 6.79 meters on his first attempt of the event and that mark finished just .06 meters outside of the top three as he earned a fourth place finish.
 
The final huge field event of the day for the Patriots came in the women's pole vault, as three different Patriots entered into the top eight. Adoniyah Pearson would place eighth after clearing the bar at a height of 3.36 meters, Olivia Mitchell would follow, placing sixth overall after clearing a height of 3.51 meters.
 
The top finisher in the event would be none other than Abeni Kratzmeyer, who placed third overall. She would also clear that height of 3.61 meters before going on to clear 3.71 meters on her second attempt. That would earn a tie for second in height, but since she took one more attempt, she had to settle for third.
 
Beginning in the track events, the Patriots would quickly set one of their two school records on the day, as freshman David Soto put together a tremendous effort in the men's mile run. Soto completed the mile in a time of 4:14.63 to place third overall and break the school record by just over two seconds.
 
Joining Soto in the event was fellow freshman Aaron Smith. He would finish sixth overall and just under four seconds behind Soto in the event.
 
Soto wasn't done yet, as he again placed inside the top eight in one of the final events of the day, the men's 3000 meters. His time of 8:34.41 placed seventh overall, and just over eight seconds outside of the top five.
 
In the men's 60 meter hurdles finals, the Patriots put together quite possibly their strongest event of the day as three different athletes finished inside the top seven. Brandon Arenas and Odey Jeffs would place sixth and seventh, respectively, in times of 8.60 and 8.69.
 
Leading the Patriots in the event was junior Ashton Turner, who put together a strong time of 8.15 seconds to place third overall. That time is good enough for an NCAA provisional mark, and was just .18 seconds outside of the top spot.
 
Turner would continue his strong form later on in the 400 meters, as he put together a seventh place run in a time of 48.77 seconds. Joining Turner inside the top eight of the event was Nicholas Davis, who finished just behind Turner in a time of 49.36 seconds.
 
In the women's version of the 400 meters, freshman Kamaria Carr would join Turner with an NCAA provisional mark as she placed fifth overall in the event in a time of 56.88 seconds.
 
Back in the short sprints, sophomore Nathan Williams would join the Patriots brigade of top eight finishes as he put together a solid run in the men's 60 meters. He ran a time of 7.04 seconds on his way to an eighth place run.
 
Yet another Patriots freshman would lead the way in the men's 200 meters, as Jackson Crysup placed seventh overall in the event. His time of 22.62 seconds would be just .38 seconds outside the top five.
 
In the women's mid-distance category, junior Calista Segura put together a fourth place run after a bigtime effort in the 800 meters. Her time of 2:19.57 would just over one second outside of the top three and just over two and a half seconds out of the top spot.
 
The Patriots second and final school record would be broken in one of the final events of the day in the women's 3000 meters. Kailynn Denney would finish 16^th overall in the event but completed the race in a time of 10:37.76 to shatter the school record by over 15 seconds.
 
The final race of the day for UT Tyler would be the men's edition of the 4x400 relay, and they capped off the strong day with yet another top eight finish. They put together a seventh place finish in a time of 3:21.37 as Crysup, Tsegaya Fazarro, Davis, and Turner combined for the run.
 
In total for the day, the Patriots collected 21 top eight finishes, and seven of those would be inside the top five of their respective events.
 
Next up for UT Tyler will be a week off before heading back to Kansas for the Washburn Open & Multi held on the campus of Washburn in Topeka, Kansas.