Relays Help Lead Jax State's Best Championship Score Since 2019

Friday, February 23

Lynchburg, Va.

Jax State

CUSA Indoor Championship

2024 CUSA Indoor Schedule

2/24/2024 9:08:00 PM | Track and Field

CUSA ITF Final Results

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Jax State closed the book on the 2024 indoor track and field season on Saturday with the final events held for the Conference USA championships.

Advancing out of Friday's prelims, Hailey Tucker added a point to Jax State's championship tally to begin the day with an eighth place finish in the 400-meter final with a time of 56.79. Bethelhem Manzano Jimeno also returned to the track after qualifying for the finals of the 800-meters race where she placed sixth. Her 2:12.13 narrowly missed improving upon the 2:12.05 school record she established during Friday's preliminary run.

"I was really proud of Hailey's run in the 400 meter," said head coach Jeremy Provence. "Coming in, she was 17th in the standings so to make it out of prelims and be one of the 8 finalists was great. She also played a pivotal role in getting our 4x4 off to a strong start. Beti's heat in prelims included the top seeded individual, which set up for a fast run. Ultimately, this helped secure a time qualifier spot in finals and also led to a school record in the process. Later that night, Beti led off the DMR running the 1200-meter leg and similar to Hailey, she put the team in position to have a good race. In the 800m finals, Beti ran a smart race and competed hard for a sixth place finish. I'm really proud of her effort this weekend."

Championship host Liberty took the Conference USA team titles in both the men's and women's competition. Jax State's ladies came home ninth amassing 21.5 points. Despite an increase in competition at the CUSA level, Jax State scored its most team points at an indoor championship since tallying 25 at the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference title meet.

Also on Saturday, freshman Jadyn Bonds tied for sixth in the high jump event when she cleared 1.64 meters (5'-4 ½") to collect 2.5 points. The scoring concluded for Jax State in a big way when the 4x400 relay squad of Tucker, Breanna Becerra, Emma Drinkard and Chidinma Margretmary Ago ran the fastest 4x4 race for the Gamecocks in more than a decade to finish fourth in 3:48.02.

"I was impressed with how well Jadyn handled the emotions of competing in her first conference meet. In a field that was tightly packed, her tie for sixth helped add more points to our tally."

"There were a lot of positives from this weekend. We have had a tremendous amount of growth since this time last year and are competing very well in several event groups. While the team finish is not the expectation, we continue to grow and have a strong group of women who compete hard and take a tremendous amount of pride in representing Jax State. This is a group that will continue to thrive as we grow stronger in numbers and in experience," said head coach Jeremy Provence following the meet.

"Carolina (Minozzi) started things off with a great performance in the pentathlon. She had a huge overall PR and set personal bests in four of the five events. Carolina is a tough competitor and she set the tone for the rest of the meet. Savannah (Yates) vaulted well. Pole vault is very competitive in CUSA. She worked through a few misses but was able to clear 3.83m for eighth. In a tightly contested event it was great coming away with a point."

"The relays went well and show just how much progress we have made as a whole. In particular, the 4x4 group ran extremely well. Not only was it a four-second season best, but it was also the fastest Jax State 4x4 team at a conference championship in school history."