Texans Open Indoor Season Strong at Corky Classic, Post Multiple National Qualifiers

LUBBOCK, TX - The South Plains College Texans opened their indoor track and field season at the Corky Classic hosted by Texas Tech University on January 16–17, turning in several strong performances and multiple national-qualifying marks.

Carlton Siwela led the way in the men's 600 yards, finishing second with a time of 1:08.38, while teammate Joshem Sylvester followed close behind in 1:09.64. In the men's 800 meters, Yassine Bounasri captured first place with an impressive time of 1:49.58, and Tamer Sakar placed with a 1:52.18 effort.

Sakar also competed in the 1000 meters, finishing fourth in 2:24.62, with Bounasri taking seventh in 2:26.14. Dennis Cheruiyot recorded a third-place finish in the mile, clocking 4:11.27. In the 3000 meters, Cheruiyot posted an 8:28.85, followed by Abdirisak Saidgurhan in 8:40.83 and Ylies Mihoubi in 8:49.06.

One of the Texans' 4x400-meter relay teams finished 15th with a time of 3:13.88. In field events, Logan Mennel cleared 2.05 meters to place 10th in the high jump, Jules Courel took third in the pole vault with a mark of 5.33 meters, and Adem Boualbani finished sixth in the long jump with a leap of 7.58 meters.

Head Coach Wes Miller praised the team's performance, saying, "I'm excited for this group and for our start to the season. We have been training hard for the past four and a half months and have a lot of new faces. We went in to see where we're at against some very good competition and left with a lot of great performances and direction for improvement. We left with 20 national qualifying marks to start week one along with six national leaders, and I'm looking forward to more to come this weekend."

The Texans also recorded multiple national-qualifying marks:

600 Meters:

• Carlton Siwela – 1:16.59 (No. 1 in the nation)
• Joshem Sylvester – 1:18.00 (No. 4)

800 Meters:

• Yassine Bounasri – 1:49.27 (No. 1)
• Tamer Sakar – 1:51.86 (No. 9)

1000 Meters:

• Tamer Sakar – 2:24.21
• Yassine Bounasri – 2:25.72

Mile:

• Dennis Cheruiyot – 4:08.25 (No. 1)

3000 Meters:

• Dennis Cheruiyot – 8:22.20

4x400 Relay:

• Texans – 3:14.32 (Risser, Harrell, Lawrence, Kelly)

High Jump:

• Logan Mennel – 2.05m

Pole Vault:

• Jules Courel – 5.33m (No. 1)

Long Jump:

• Adem Boualbani – 7.58m

The Texans will continue their indoor season at the NAIA/JUCO Challenge on January 24 in Pittsburg, Kansas.