JONESBORO, Ark. (4/28/22) – Another stellar outdoor season continues for the Arkansas State track and field teams, with the Red Wolves set to compete in a trio of meets this weekend.
A quartet of men's distance athletes are set to run in the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, beginning with Seth Waters in the men's 800 meters on Thursday. Waters and Bennett Pascoe will also compete in the men's 1500 meters later Thursday evening.
On Friday and Saturday, A-State will compete in two other meets. Some athletes will travel to Nashville, Tenn., for the Music City Challenge while others will compete at the Maroon and White Invite in Starkville, Miss.
THE COMPETITION (VANDERBILT): Alabama A&M, Austin Peay, Belmont, Carson-Newman, Lindenwood, Lipscomb, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Murray State, Ohio, SIUE, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Trevecca Nazarene, UT Martin, Western Kentucky
THE COMPETITION (MISSISSIPPI STATE): Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Alabama, Southern Miss, UAB, ULM, William Carey
5 THINGS TO NOTE:
1. BEST IN THE 'BELT: Seth Waters leads in both the men's 800 meters and 1500 meters, while Jacob Pyeatt and Sophie Leathers lead the men's and women's 10,000 meters. 2021 All-American Bennett Pascoe leads the steeplechase. Carter Shell continues to lead the way in the long jump and Aimar Palma Simo remains atop the hammer throw. Also on the women's side, Avery Shell owns the league's best pole vault mark of the season.
2. QUALIFYING POSITION: Thirteen total athletes (7 men, 6 women) are currently inside the top 48 in their event in the NCAA West Region, which is qualifying position for the preliminary rounds in May. Four men are inside the top 10 in their event: Carter Shell (2nd – long jump), Frank Massey (4th – long jump), Aimar Palma Simo (8th – hammer throw) and Bradley Jelmert (8th – pole vault). On the track, Seth Waters and Bennett Pascoe are 24th in the 800 meters and steeplechase, respectively, while Will Glass is 24th in the 110-meter hurdles.
On the women's side, Sophie Leathers leads the way at 19th in the 10,000 meters, with Camryn Newton-Smith at 32nd in the long jump and 34th in the javelin. Jonae Cook (100 meters) and Avery Shell (pole vault) both rank 44th in their events, while Chelby Melvin is 47th in the 400-meter hurdles. Thrower Chastery Fuamatu is 47th in the hammer throw.
3. NATIONAL RANKINGS, TOO… : Shell enters the week with the second-best wind-legal jump in the NCAA at 8.06m (26-5.5), while Bradley Jelmert is 14th in the pole vault (5.42m/17-9.25). Also in the jumps is Frank Massey, who ranks 10th in the high jump after last week's PR of 2.18m (7-1.75). Aimar Palma Simo is also inside the top 20, ranking 19th in the hammer throw.
4. #EVENTSQUAD: Arkansas State's women rank inside the top 30 in five events in the USTFCCCA's weekly #EventSquad rankings, which places a rank order to a program's group of athletes in a particular event, using season-best qualifying marks from the team's top-four ranked athletes. A-State is 14th in the discus (47.98m/157-5.0) and 17th in the shot put (14.72m/48-3.75), as well as 26th in the hammer throw (52.46m/172-1.0). The Red Wolves are also 27th in the high jump (1.67m/5-6.0) and 28th in the 100-meter hurdles (14.15).
5. GETTING CLOSER…: The 2022 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships are getting closer, set to begin Thursday, May 12, in Lafayette, La. A-State is looking to defend last season's sweep of the conference outdoor crown, and this week serves as a final tune-up before the three-day meet.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For the latest on the A-State track and field program, follow @AStateTrack on Twitter and @Arkansas_State_Track on Instagram, while also liking the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/AStateTrackAndField.
