T&T's Tyra Gittens of the University of Texas A&M achieved a new personal best (pb) in the heptathlon this weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational held at Bryan-College Station in Texas in the United States.
The reigning NCAA pentathlon champion, competing in her first heptathlon in a little over two years, scored an NCAA-leading 6,274 points after completing the seven disciplines.
Gittens, 22, won all four disciplines in windy conditions on Friday, opening with a 13.14-clocking in the 100 metres hurdles for 1,103 points. She then cleared 1.82m in the high jump, scoring 1,003 points and won the shot put with a throw of 12.85m, earning 717 points. In the final event of the day, she sprinted to victory in the 200m dash in 23.33, scoring 1,046.
On Saturday, she returned with a win in the long jump with a 6.67m-leap (1062 points) and the javelin event for 631 points (38.13m) and ended the competition in second place in the 800m with a time of 2:28.52 to add 712 points.
She was pleased with her performance but knows she must improve if she is to achieve her goal of competing in the multi-sports event at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan.
“Mood for a huge personal best, new school record, and an NCAA leading 6274 points in my first heptathlon in forever! Still so much to work on and I can’t wait to recover and get back into training,” she posted on Instagram.
The 6,247 points Gittens scored is still 173 shy of the Olympic qualifying standard of 6,420 points.
T&T's Deon Lendore also competed at the meet of his former school and placed second in the men's 200m timed final.
The unattached athlete crossed second in section five, the quickest of the five heats, and placed second overall in a time of 20.40 seconds behind eventual winner TCU freshman Robert Gregory with 20.14
At the Miramar Invitational at the Ansin Sports Complex in Hollywood, Florida on Saturday, T&T had three athlete feature including hurdler Reubin Walters, field specialist Portious Warren and jumper Anduwelle Wright.
Walters was a third-place finisher in the men's 110m hurdles event with 13.37 behind American duo Grant Holloway (13.04) and Daniel Roberts (13.30).
Warren competed in the women's shot put and opened her season with an eighth-place finish with a throw of 17.74. "Season opener best by more than 50cm. Back to the drawing board. I'm ready. Haven't felt this good cause I Know I got a lot left in the tank. Next stop the Olympics standard," she posted on Facebook afterwards. Entry into the women's shot put for the Tokyo Games is 18.50m.Wright also opened his season at the Texas meet and finished ninth in the men's long jump with a 7.59m leap.