Bulls set four school records

The USF men’s and women’s track and field teams combined to break four school records, set seven regional qualifying marks and set one provisional NCAA Championship qualifying mark during the three-day FSU Relays competition in Tallahassee this past weekend.

“We just had a great meet because we had a lot of personal bests and the kids (are) competing (at the level) where they left off last year,” USF coach Greg Thiel said. “Even if they weren’t their personal records, they were close, and this is our first real outdoor meet, so we’re really excited.”

Headlining the Bulls was junior Alexis McGaffagan, who shattered her own school record in the heptathlon by scoring 5,088 points en route to a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships.

Teammate Amber Delpino’s 59.72 broke the school record in the 400-meter hurdles, earning her a regional qualifying mark.

Other regional qualifiers on the women’s team were Dayana Octavien in the discus (166 feet, 6 inches), Chandra Brewer in the shot put (50 feet, 2 1/2 inches), Carmen Crespo in the high jump (5 feet, 8 inches) and the women’s 4×400-meter relay team (3:40.91).

The men’s team nearly matched the women’s performance by breaking two school records and posting one regional qualifying mark.

Taiwo Egun broke Mario Leonlongato’s eight-year-old record in the triple jump with a 48-feet, 6-inch leap.

The 4×800-meter relay team also broke the school record with 7:35.04.

And the lone regional qualifier was Andre Bondurant in the javelin with a 198-foot, 11-inch throw, which was just less than six feet from his own school record.

The meet wasn’t team scored, so the Bulls can’t gauge their successful team performances against those of other schools. However, Thiel said despite his teams’ success in the first three weeks of the season, no one is satisfied.

“We’re just getting started, so we expect them to keep getting better and better,” Thiel said.

Adam Adkins covers track and field and can be reached at oraclesports@yahoo.com