Bison Earn Two More NCAA Qualifying Marks at Gorilla Classic

PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Oklahoma Baptist men's and women's track and field teams participated in their sixth meet of the season as they traveled to Pittsburg, Kansas, to participate in the sixth annual PSU Gorilla Classic. OBU competed against the Pitt State, Academy of Art, Augustana (S.D.), Central Missouri, Dallas Baptist, Lincoln, Midwestern State, Missouri State, Missouri Western, Oklahoma Christian, and Southwest Baptist.
 
The Bison brought home four first place finishes, and two NCAA provisional marks. Shirvante Knauls, Zachary Coak, Jax Holland, and Tarees Rhoden ran the 4x400 relay and finished with a time of 3:12.32 to beat the NCAA provisional time (3:16.27) by 3.95 seconds. They were 1.08 seconds away from the NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:11.24.
 
The OBU women's distance team comprised of Emma Downing, Taylor James, Kayla McGruder, and Allison Derry earned the second Bison qualifying time of the meet, completing the distance medley with a time of 11:57.52. They beat the provisional mark of 12:05.93 by 8.41 seconds.
 
On the women's individual side, Downing won the mile run with a time of 4:58.33 seconds, only .01 seconds away from the NCAA provisional mark. The second top finish for the women was captured by James, who won the 600 yard run with a time of 1:25.40. She beat out Hanna Williams of MWSU 1.04 seconds.
 
Mahcoe Smith brought home the gold in the men's 60 meter dash with a time of 6.90 seconds. Smith beat out Brooks King of DBU by 0.03 seconds.
 
Other top finishes for the Bison included Nathaniel Worley (high jump), Blake Rayner (600 yard run), and Holland (200 meter dash) all of whom took the silver medal in their respective events.
 
"Our team was extremely thankful that we were able to compete this weekend," said OBU head coach Ford Mastin. "Highlights were Smith winning the 60 and lowering his qualifying position with a personal best, Downing who won the women's mile with her first sub-five-minute mile, and the men's 4x400 relay won with the third best time in the nation. Many other athletes qualified for their final races and represented OBU with effort and class."
 
Up next, the Bison will travel to Lubbock, Texas, on Friday, Feb. 19 to participate in the Texas Tech Matador Qualifier.