OCU stars finished in the top 10 in the Friend’s First Chance Qualifier meet on Saturday, Jan. 8 in Kansas.
The Men’s Track and Field team had three top 10 showings at the meet in Heskett Center.
Fares Marrouf, a freshman from Piedmont, completed the 1000-meter race in 2 minutes and 39.80 seconds. His time secured him a third-place finish.
Two OCU students took ninth place in their respective competitions. Iwuchukwu took ninth place in the shot put after he threw 40’ 10.5” (12.45 meters).
Kolton Mcgaha took ninth place in the 200-meter race for his time of 23.38 seconds.
The Women’s Track and Field team had two top 10 finishes at the First Chance Qualifier, in Wichita, KS.
OCU’s star Tia Gonzales finished with sixth-place in the women’s shot put. Gonzalez threw the shot put 32’ 5” (9.88 meters.)
Stephanie Towle won seventh-place in a high jump competition. Towle jumped 4’ 5” (1.37 meters).
“Coming from high school level competition to college competition was a drastic change for me that the meet helped me see where I stood with my performance, and whom I should look out for while performing,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzales looks forward to achieving more this season by improving her practice time and overall performance.
“I want to improve my performance by not just only working out when my coaches say so but also on my own. They say you put time into your priorities, and I want to put in the time to be the best,” Gonzales said.
Some athletes had previously reported low morale due to the impact of COVID-19. However, competing may improve morale for some athletes.
COVID-19 has brought a level of uncertainty to the athletics department. Some athletes have expressed that they are unsure if their games will continue as scheduled or will be canceled.
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