Jimeno and Chan victories lead JSU at UAB Invite - Jacksonville State University Athletics

Friday, March 31

Birmingham, AL.

Jax State

UAB Spring Invitational

Meet Schedule

4/2/2023 8:02:00 PM | Track and Field

Final Results

BIRMINGHAM – It was another positive weekend on the track and in the field for Jax State at the UAB Spring Invite, hightlighted by a trio of event titles by the Gamecocks.

Sophomore Bethelhem Manzano Jimeno came away with two titles on the track taking gold in the 1,500 and 800-meter races. The Balsareny, Spain, native, clocked set a new personal mark in the 1,500 with a time of 4:33.61 edging out a pair of Chattanooga Mocs. She returned the following day to score the win in the 800 in 2:18.36, this time leading two runners from UAB atop the podium.

"Bethlehem had a great weekend," said head coach Jeremy Provence. "When looking at the heat sheets, we felt like the focus should be to take gold in both events. Winning one event is hard enough so to walk away with gold in the 1500 and 800 is impressive."

The Gamecocks also saw gold in Friday's 3,000 steeplechase. An event JSU hasn't competed in for several years saw freshman Elsa Chan lead the pack to the finish in a time of 11:13.64 for her first attempt at the competition.

"Elsa had a strong performance in her first steeplechase of the year. Steeplechase is a tough event and can be intimidating at first. Elsa ran smart, made the adjustments needed throughout the race, and her toughness showed as she ran away with it in the last two laps. It has been an impressive three weeks of racing for Elsa."

"The team is competing. It is an important theme for this spring. We have to have that competitive fire. How much effort we want to give is a choice we get to make. It is a controllable factor. Overall, we are getting better and better each week."

Also on the track, senior Ashton Coats narrowly missed a top three spot in the 100-meter hurdles with a fourth-place time of 14.42. She later ran the 100 dash, finishing eight just behind teammate Maddie Holman. Holman scored sixth in the 100 meters and turned in a seventh-place spot in the 200-meter event.

The Gamecocks found the podium again the 400-meters with Breanna Becerra's third-place time of 58.83. Leandra Custodio added another Gamecock in the top five finishing in 1:00.31.

In the field, freshman Lydia Seals finished runner-up in the javelin with a throw of 39.50 meters. After a sixth and fourth-place finishes in her first two collegiate meets, Seals narrowly missed her first title behind UAB's Mya McDanal.

Sophomore Rachel Peterson joined the weekend highlights clearing a new personal best 5.19 meters in the long jump. Another PR fell with Savannah Yates' third-place height of 3.56 meters in the pole vault. Fellow Gamecocks Kayley Stanley (fifth) and Lennon Ibsen also reached the standard.