Trinity University announces Ten Track & Field Athletes Earn USTFCCCA All-Region Honors
NEW ORLEANS – Trinity's men's and women's track & field teams featured 10 All-Region performers, as announced by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association today.
The top five individuals and the top three relays from each region this season were granted All-Region status. In another announcement later in the day, Azariah Anderson (Saint Charles, Mo. / Francis Howell North) earned official qualification to the NCAA III Championships.
Sophomore Joy Areola (Tomball, Texas / Rosehill Christian) and first-year Bocar Diagana (Edina, Minn. / Edina) both received recognition in the triple jump. Areola leapt to her second-best mark of her career earlier this month, reaching 11.80 meters at the Oxy Invitational. Diagana soared to fourth in school history with a jump of 14.13 meters at the Trinity Last Chance Meet less than a week ago.
Sophomore Anderson and junior Justin Johnson (Houston, Texas / Manvel) were both honored for their prowess in the hurdles. Johnson broke his previous career-best in the 400-meter hurdles four times this season and moved up to third in school history in doing so. His season-best came in the regular season finale, finishing in 53.41 seconds at the Augustana Midwest Twilight. Anderson finished the 110-meter hurdles in 14.19 at the D3 Challenge in late March, which is the second-fastest time in school history, and the fourth-best in all of NCAA III this season. He will compete in the NCAA III Championships next weekend in Rochester, New York.
Senior Kierra Francois (Angleton, Texas / Angleton) smashed her own school record by nearly six meters at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships at the end of April. Her SCAC Championship throw of 50.85 meters is more than nine meters better than the next individual on Trinity's all-time list.
Sophomore Will Salony (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) broke Trinity's record in the 1500-meter run as a first-year in 2022, and he followed that up by breaking his own record three times this season. Salony's best time of the season was 3:48.44 at the Azusa Pacific Last Chance Meet – the same meet that he broke the previous record at last year.
The final four All-Region honorees did so together in the 4x400-meter relay, and the four Tigers also did it in the season finale at Augustana. Senior Taylor Kotfas (Blanco, Texas / Blanco), sophomore CC Gray (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Notre Dame Prep), along with juniors Aliya Jackson (Houston, Texas / Shadow Creek) and Hayley Huck (Prosper, Texas / Prosper) broke the school record with a time of 3:53.99 in Thursday night's relay in Illinois.
The NCAA III Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held May 25-27 in Rochester, New York.
Original source can be found here.