The Rice men’s track and field team will participate in the 44 Farms Team Invitational at Texas A&M, with the three-day event beginning Thursday morning, according to an April 8 announcement.
The meet is significant as it brings together top collegiate teams from across the nation, providing athletes with opportunities to improve their marks ahead of conference championships.
Key athletes for Rice include Ty Hampton and Jack Greaves in the javelin. Hampton currently leads the American Athletic Conference with a throw exceeding 70 meters, while Greaves is also seeking to improve his standing. Sultan Bakare enters the competition leading the conference in both hammer throw and shot put events. Juan Marais will aim to surpass his season best of 57.87 meters in discus, which ranks second in the conference.
Distance runners Andrew Murray, Brandon Martz, and Riley Kuhlman are among three of the top five steeplechasers in their conference set to compete this weekend. Additionally, Alexander Männel is scheduled to make his collegiate debut in the decathlon.
Other Rice participants include Drayden Dickmann, Soga Adeyiga, Christos Economides (100m), Ethan Judge (100m hurdles), Connor McGrath (200m), Jakob Gilbreth (400m), Christian Edgar, Edward Bocock, Vincent Nnanna (400m hurdles), Marcus Gaitan, William Thames, Jordan Edmondson, Matthew Gaitan, Jackson Moran (800m), Luke Ivy and Alexander Männel (decathlon), Mason Biehle (long jump), Daniel Sowell (hammer throw and shot put), William Hagemeier and Chizitere Okolie (pole vault), Patrick Elizondo (high jump) as well as a relay team competing in the 4×400 meter event.
The invitational provides an opportunity for Rice athletes to test themselves against strong competition early in April as they prepare for future meets.
