UALR broke in its new track home in style at the UALR Open.
The Trojans set a school record and won six events Saturday afternoon in the debut of the Coleman Sports and Recreation Complex.
Casey Lane turned in a big day, setting a school and personal record of 53.06 in the 400-meter hurdles. His previous personal best was 53.61 seconds set last May.
Rebekah Gibbons won the javelin with a throw of 126 feet, 9 1/4 inches, despite throwing into a swirling wind. She also won the discus with a throw of 135-5 and placed second in the shot put with a throw of 43-7.
Gibbons has won three of the six outdoor events she has competed in this year and has placed second in the other three.
Cheryl Nolan finished second in the 1,500 meters in 4 minutes, 42.06 seconds, while Gibbons took seventh in 5:24.02. Nolan also tied for first in the 800 with a time of 2:21.95.
UALR’s women won the 400 relay in 48.19 seconds, which is the seventh-fastest time in school history. UALR’s men barely missed matching the women in the 400 relay, running 41.68 while finishing runner-up to Harding’s relay team.
Rickitha Hicks picked up UALR’s other victory, winning the 200 meters in 24.60 seconds.
The meet was scored as a tri-meet. In the men’s division, UCA defeated UALR 236-84 and UAPB defeated UALR 134-100. On the women’s side, UCA defeated UALR 159-126 and UALR defeated UAPB 145-121.
Sports, Pages 30 on 04/13/2014