JONESBORO, Ark. (12/2/18) – The Arkansas State Track & Field teams opened the indoor season Sunday afternoon inside First National Bank Arena with the annual A-State Kickoff Klassic and came away with 18 event wins and 46 top five finishes.

“I told our team that I thought today was a B, if I were giving it a grade,” said A-State head coach Jim Patchell. “We've got to remember this is December, but I thought we did a pretty good job. Very rarely would we get an A-plus in December. I've got to go back and compare these results to last year for some perspective, but a lot of good things today. We had about 16 personal bests today and several on the all-time lists, so it was a pretty good start to the season.”

Senior Caitland Smith swept the short sprints and sprinted her way into the top three on the all-time list. She won the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.91 seconds to rank third in program history and her time of 24.08 won her the 200-meter dash and put her third in the program ranks. Freshman Osereme Erewele was second in both races, finishing the 55-meter dash in 7.08 seconds, eighth-fastest in program history, and the 200-meter dash in 25.11 seconds.

Freshman Camryn Newton-Smith claimed two event titles in her A-State debut. Newton-Smith won the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.19 seconds and the long jump with a mark of 5.85m (19-2.50), tied for the eighth-best in program history. Freshmen Megan Knowling and Evangelynn Harris also claimed event titles in their respective debuts. Knowling won the triple jump with a mark of 10.99m (36-0.75) while a throw of 14.55m (47-9), the sixth-best in program history, saw Harris win the shot put.

Sophomore Grace Flowers returned from an injury last season and won the weight throw with a mark of 17.83m (58-6) to win the event. That throw ranks fourth in program history and Harris registered a throw of 15.91m (52-2.50) to place fourth in the field but ninth in program history. Junior Anaelle Charles had the fastest time in the mile run with a 5:03.00 while Nada Buntic won the women's high jump at 1.68m (5-6).

On the men's side, A-State claimed seven individual event titles. Sophomore Carter Shell had a personal-best of 14.90m (48-10.75) to win the triple jump while sophomore Eron Carter won the weight throw with a mark of 18.10m (59-4.75), the sixth-best throw in program history. Senior Tiaan Steenkamp won the high jump clearing 2.08m (6-9.75) to round out the field event winners. Freshman Courtney Thomas won the long jump with a leap of 7.47m (24-6.25)

On the track, the Red Wolves took three titles. Junior Heinrich Herbst led seven Red Wolves among the top-10 finishers in the mile run leading with a time of 4:24.62. Sophomore Bennett Pascoe paced the field in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:52.27 and sophomore Ke'Von Holder was the top finisher in the 55-meter hurdles at 7.51 seconds.

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A-State Kickoff Klassic

First National Bank Arena | Jonesboro, Ark.

Men

55m Dash: 3. Jermie Walker – 6.49 (final), 4. Chris Hill – 6.53 (final), 3. Courtney Thomas – 6.54 (prelim), 8. Carter Shell – 6.65 (prelim), 9. Christopher Carter – 6.65 (prelim), 12. D'Kari Smith – 6.71 (prelim)

200m Dash: 2. D'Kari Smith – 22.25, 4. Chris Hill – 22.40, 5. Christopher Carter – 22.77, 7. Ke'Von Holder – 23.02

400m Dash: 2. Jermie Walker – 48.86, 5. Steffan Mallory – 51.21, 9. K'Den Fortune-Johnson – 51.78, Darrian Lockett – 53.06, 20. Amari James – 54.56

800m Run: 10. Cody Weldon – 2:11.17

Mile Run: 1. Heinrich Herbst – 4:24.62, 2. Jacob Oury – 4:25.84, 3. Seth Waters – 4:28.67, 4. Alejandro Vargas – 4:29.04, 7. Clayton Stuart – 4:39.99, 8. Andrew Straessle – 4:41.31, 9. Sean Adams – 4:41.32, 10. Bryan Chac – 4:41.97, 11. Garrett Becker – 4:43.03

3000m Run: 1. Bennett Pascoe – 8:52.27, 2. Owen Habager – 8:55.68, 3. Jallah Galimah – 8:59.10, 4. John Carder – 9:10.25, 6. Stuart Nickell – 9:28.12

5000m Run: None

10000m Run: None

55m Hurdles: 1. Ke'Von Holder – 7.51, 2. Amari James – 7.55, 6. Coleton Clifft – 8.10, 7. Alex Strong – 8.14

4x400m Relay: None

4x800m Relay: 1. Arkansas State 'C' – 8:27.36, 2. Arkansas State 'A' – 8:34.50, 3. Arkansas State 'B' – 8:40.31

High Jump: 1. Tiaan Steenkamp – 2.08m/6-9.75, 2. Frank Massey – 2.05m/6-8.75, 3. Dylan Western – 2.02m/6-7.50, 4. Alex Strong – 2.02m/6-7.50

Pole Vault: 2. Michael Carr – 4.77m/15-7.75, 5. Matthew Keown – 4.62m/15-1.75, 8. Coleton Clifft – 4.02m/13-2.25

Long Jump: 1. Courtney Thomas – 7.47m/24-6.25, 3. Carter Shell – 7.12m/23-4.50, 4. Coleton Clifft – 6.79m/22-3.50, 6. Frank Massey – 6.64m/21-9.50

Triple Jump: 1. Carter Shell – 14.90m/48-10.75, 2. Courtney Thomas – 13.98m/45-10.50

Shot Put: 3. Eron Carter – 16.05m/52-8, 4. Eric Williams – 15.95m/52-4, 5. Jermaine Anderson – 15.55m/51-0.25, 8. Coleton Clifft – 12.66m/41-6.50

Weight Throw: 1. Eron Carter – 18.10m/59-4.75 (ranks 6th in program history), 2. Eric Williams – 17.05m/55-11.25 (ranks 8th in program history), 3. LeeRoi Johnson – 16.58m/54-4.75 (ranks 10th in program history), 4. Jermaine Anderson – 15.25m/50-0.50

Heptathlon: None