Deric Martinez
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- Hometown:
- El Paso, Texas
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- Year:
- So
News mentions
PITTSBURG, Kansas—Day one of the 2017 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships at the Robert W. Plaster Center on the campus of Pittsburg State University saw the Texans and Lady Texans put themselves in contention for national gold on Friday. Freshman Laquan Nairn soared his way to a first place finish in the men's long jump as the Bahamas native jumped 24' 11.75". South Plains' Derrick Monroe wasn't far behind as the sophomore from Yuma, Arizona placed third overall with a final mark of 24' 05.75". Saahir Bethea also earned a top 10 finish as the Elkins Park, Pennsylvania native placed sixth with a jump of 24' 01.50".
PITTSBURG, Kan.—Day two of the 2017 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships at Pittsburg State's Robert W. Plaster Center saw the Texans and Lady Texans each finish the season as two of the top programs in the country. The Texans would end up finishing second overall with a final team total of 104.5 points. Iowa Central placed first with 124 points, as Barton County, Butler and Hinds Community College rounded out the top five. The Lady Texans finished third in the country with 70 team points. New Mexico Junior College placed first with 121 points and Iowa Central placed second with 116 points.
HOBBS—Following a dominating day one performance which saw the South Plains track and field teams continue to make their case as the top program in the country, the Texans and Lady Texans were just as impressive on Saturday at the Ross Black Field of Champions in their final meet before the NJCAA Indoor National Championships. "I think we've done a great job and have used this meet to sharpen up," South Plains head coach Erik Vance said. "We had a couple of kids we need to get qualified, and they did the job and did what they needed to do. We've looked good and I'm happy with what we've done today." Safia Bright kicked off the afternoon with a second place finish in the women's 60 meter dash after posting a final time of 7.51. Taylor Hill placed fourth with a 7.60 and Joi Gill took sixth with a 7.70. Bright then went on take second overall in the 200 meter dash with a final mark of 24.08, while Omotayo Abolaji and Hill finished fifth and sixth with times of 24.51 and 24.87, respectively.
COLLEGE STATION—After a strong outing in their first Indoor meet of the season on Jan. 14 at the University of Oklahoma, the South Plains College Texans and Lady Texans track and field teams impressed once again on Saturday at the Charlie Thomas Invitational at Texas A&M University. Just two meets into the season, South Plains has set a combined 57 national qualifying marks, 23 coming in Aggie land. The Texans took third overall with 72 team points, trailing only UCLA and Texas A&M.
NORMAN, Oklahoma—The South Plains College men's and women's track and field teams looked to be in mid-season form at their first Indoor meet of the 2017 season at the University of Oklahoma on Saturday. Felicia Frimpong and Melody Korie kicked off the first event of the day with a second and third-place finish in the women's long jump. Frimpong placed second with a final jump of 18-6 ½, while Korie took third with a distance of 18-3. Naomi Kerari placed third in the women's high jump with a final mark of 4-11 ½.