PITTSBURG, KAN. – UT Tyler track & field opened competition Friday at the Gorilla Classic in Pittsburg, Kansas, turning in a series of strong performances against a deep regional and national field. The Patriots were highlighted by a school-record effort in the men's distance medley relay along with multiple top finishes across sprint, distance, and field events.

The men's distance medley relay team of Chris Kopecky, Caleb Williams, Brandon Jimenez, and David Soto delivered the top performance of the day, breaking the school record with a time of 9:52.43 to place fourth out of 18 teams. In the sprints, Dylan Bennett qualified out of the men's 60-meter dash preliminaries with a 6.82, finishing sixth in a field of 95 competitors. Dameon Smith Jr. added a top-10 finish in the men's 60-meter hurdles, placing 10th out of 47 with a time of 8.19.

On the women's side, Aalliyah Francis paced the Patriots in the sprints with a pair of strong efforts. She placed 10th out of 75 in the 200 meters with a time of 24.65 after finishing 16th in the 60-meter dash preliminaries in 7.74. Isabel Jakobsen added a top-10 performance in the 60-meter hurdles, placing 10th out of 68 in 8.91. In the field events, Jasmine Haywood recorded a mark of 5.53 meters in the long jump to finish 14th in a 39-athlete field.

UT Tyler also saw solid showings in the distance events, with Giselle Alejandro (18:24.54) and Adison Richard (18:29.85) finishing 17th and 19th, respectively, in the women's 5,000 meters.

The Patriots will continue competition at the Gorilla Classic on Saturday with a full slate of field and track events beginning at noon, highlighted by the 3,000 meters, sprint finals, middle-distance races, and the 4x400-meter relays to close out the meet.