The SUNY Delhi Track and Field team traveled to Staten Island this weekend for a last chance invitational. In a meet where many Olympians and professional athletes were competing the Broncos had a great overall showing.
The highlight of the day came from sophomore Walter Briggs, who finally broke through in the 500 meters. Briggs has been chasing school records all season, breaking the 300 meter record in December. Since then, he missed the 400 meter record by less than a tenth of a second and the 500 meter record by half a second, running the second best time in program history in both events. This time he would not be denied. Briggs came into the final 100 meters in last place in his five man heat. He set up on the bank in the final curve and when he hit the final straightaway, he ran by everyone. He won the heat with a time of 1:04.44 seconds to break the record of 1:04.76 set by Zavior Brown in 2010. Briggs performance was good for a second place finish overall and the top collegiate with only one professional athlete in front of his time.
Briggs was not the only one with a top finish in the highly competitive meet. Junior Keimon Barrow, jumped through an injury early in the competition. He started his day on the triple jump runway where he developed a knot in his back during his first jump. He carried the top jump in the competition until one competitor eclipsed him in the final round. His mark of 14.53 meters finished second overall. He then went to the high jump where his back injury was getting worse. He cleared 2.09 meters along with two other competitors. He then chose to pass at 2.14 meters to attempt 2.19 meters in search of a qualifying mark for USA indoors. Although he made a close attempt on his third jump, he was just unable to clear and had to settle for third place.
Sophomore Tyler O'Bryant ran the second fastest time in school history in the 60 meter dash with a new personal best time of 6.93 seconds. That run was good for fifth place overall and the third collegiate in the 60 meter invitational. Sophomore Antonio Gomes ran a huge personal best for the indoor 200 meters with a time of 22.85 seconds and freshman Kobie Lane ran a personal best time in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:43.47.
The team will travel next weekend to St. Lawrence University for one last indoor meet before they prepare for the outdoor season.