CLINTON, Miss. – The W track and field teams had a good opening event to the outdoor season, posting five school records at the Mississippi College Spring Classic on Saturday. The Owls placed ninth out of 18 men's teams, while the women's squad was sixth of 13.
 
Four of the new school marks came on the men's side. Freshman Malachi Morgan picked up outdoors, right where he left off at the end of the indoor season, with record-setting and winning efforts. Morgan won two events at the Spring Classic: the high jump and longs jump. And he did so with record efforts in both.
 
In the high jump, Morgan leaped 2.05 meters, besting the previous record of 1.86m. In the long jump, his leap of 7.05 meters topped the old record of 6.53m.
 
Sophomore Kobe Smith posted a record time in track's "glamour event": the 100-meter dash. Smith ran a time of 10.81 seconds (the old record was 10.96), good for 11th place, overall, in the tough field.
 
Thrower James Nesby got his record in the men's hammer throw, as the first-ever men's field athlete to attempt the event in program history. Nesby had a toss of 23.49 meters and finished eighth.
 
Freshman women's jumper Ariella Jones, who set the school indoor long jump record last weekend, added the outdoor mark to her record collection at the MC meet. Jones went 5.46 meters, surpassing the previous mark of 5.25m, and placing fourth.
 
Sophomore teammate Hali Sinegal was eight in the long jump, at 5.15 meters. In the women's triple jump, it was Sinegal placing fourth (10.63m) and Jones seventh (10.35m).
 
Women's throws specialist Arie'Onna McCollum had a big day, with three top-10 finishes. MCollum won the javelin toss (32.99m), was fourth in the shotput (10.85m), and seventh in the hammer throw (30.85m).