With two meets in the books last weekend, the Texas A&M University – Commerce Lions track and field teams had strong showings in both Men’s and Women’s competitions.

The first bit of action came in the multi-sport events portion of the David Noble Relays in San Angelo, Texas. Matt Rich was the only male Lion to make the journey, but he made his presence known by winning the decathlon with a personal best score of 7107, which broke the previous school record held by Ben Botello since 2002.

Rich’s performance currently stands as the second best mark in NCAA Division II, and becomes the third automatic qualifier for the Lions so far.

For the women, Ginnie Lee and Jessica Clay were called to the task of the Heptathlon. Lee had a proud showing in the events, finishing with a sixth place score of 4538, which also stands as a personal best and a provisional qualifier. Clay finished twelfth and barely missed attaining a qualifying mark.

The rest of the Lions team would then head to Stephenville, Texas for their next meet, featuring Angelo State and Tarleton University, two Lone Star Conference powerhouses.

The Lions faced tough competition, with the men finishing the day in second and the wowmen placing in third.

Tyler Rambo shone brightly on the day, marking the Lions only qualifier on the day. Rambo’s distance of 17.12m in the shot put was enough to win the event, as well as an outdoor best for Rambo. Masoud Moghaddam once again got into his winning routine, leading the pack in a hammer throw event that saw the Lions place 1-2-3, with Chase Graham barely missing a qualifying mark in second place.

Joseph Brown and Hendrik Nungess took the first two spots in the discus, and James Lundy and Kellen Dion followed suit with a 1-2 finish in the javelin.

The Lions blew by much of the pack on the track as well, with Luis Romero securing a first place finish in the 800m, Soren Gnoss winning the 200m, and footballer Dionte Taylor making his first appearance with the Lion track team getting the win in the 100m with a time of 10.88.

For the women, Kamryn McKee had three separate personal bests, coming in the 100m, 200, and as a part of the 4x400m relay team alongside Ana Baleveicau, Tyler Cottingham and Ashley Bassett. The relay team powered through for a personal best time of 3:49.21, finishing second in the event.

Rebecca Mueller continued an impressive outdoor season with a second, third, and fourth place finish in the discus, javelin, and hammer throw, respectively. Mueller’s hammer throw was also a personal best distance of 42.24m.

The Lion women picked up two more victories, with Hailey Nelson garnering a win in the high jump, and Selasie Koto winning the triple jump.

The Lions now have an extended stay at home, for their next meet will be held within the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium in Commerce. The East Texas Invite will be the second meet held in Commerce this year. The meet will be the second to last of the regular season, with the Lions heading to Houston the next week for the J. Fred Ducket Twilight hosted by Rice University.

The Lions next track meet will be the East Texas Invite on Saturday, April 18 at Memorial Stadium in Commerce, Texas.