The Rice men’s track and field team concluded its participation in the 44 Farms Team Invitational at Texas A&M on April 11, achieving several top finishes led by standout performances from the throwers.
The event saw Jack Greaves secure first place in the javelin with a personal best throw of 74.22 meters, while Ty Hampton followed closely in second with a throw of 72.30 meters. Juan Marais finished second in the discus, recording a season-best mark of 58.01 meters.
Sultan Bakare contributed to Rice’s success with third-place finishes in both the shot put (18.05 meters) and hammer throw (59.81 meters), marking his season best in the latter event. On the track, Edward Bocock took third place in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.77 seconds, and Jordan Edmondson placed fourth in the open section of the 800 meters at 1:52.31.
In additional results from invitational races, Marcus Gaitan and William Thames finished third and fourth respectively in their section of the 800 meters, while Riley Kuhlman secured third place in the steeplechase with a time of 9:40.62.
Head Coach Jon Warren said, “We had a lot of impressive performances throughout the meet. You have to start with the throws. Jack was awesome today, throwing a personal best of 74-meters, putting him at eighth in the NCAA, just in front of Ty, who also had a great 72-meter throw. It was a great weekend for Sultan in the hammer throw and in the shot put, and Juan was also great in the discus. I thought Edward ran really well in the hurdles, and our 800 guys had good races. Riley was third in the steeple and ran solid there, and Drayden matched a season best in the 100m. Overall this was great progress for us as we keep building up towards conference.”
Looking ahead, Rice athletes will be competing next weekend at meets hosted by Long Beach State University, Bryan Clay Invitational, and University of Houston.
