Tigers Pick Up 11 Event Wins, Dibo Shines Again During Busy Weekend at CrossPlex

Friday, February 9

Birmingham, Ala.

TBA

University of Memphis

Samford Invite & Open

Will Dibo at Bulldog Open, Feb. 10, 2024

Photo by: Michael Wade

Tigers Pick Up 11 Event Wins, Dibo Shines Again During Busy Weekend at CrossPlex

Feb 10, 2024 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Memphis track and field team was back on the track this weekend, competing at the Bulldog Invite (Friday) and the Bulldog Open (Saturday) at The CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama, hosted by Samford. The Tigers collected 11 event wins over the dual-meet weekend and Will Dibo shined bright once again in the weight throw.

"All in all, I think we had a very productive two days in Birmingham," head coach Kevin Robinson said. "We came away with multiple victories, PRs and season bests."

Dibo stole the show for the second weekend in a row for Memphis with his big performances in the weight throw. The Vienna, Austria, native launched a lifetime-best mark of 21.82 meters (71'7.25") to finish runner up at the Bulldog Invite on Friday and improve his No. 2 all-time in the event at Memphis. Dibo's mark leads The American, is third in the NCAA South Region and No. 14 in the NCAA this season. He came back on Saturday and threw 21.25 meters (69'8.75") to again finish as runner-up in a stacked field at the Bulldog Open.

"Will is really starting to develop some consistency with the weight throw," Robinson added. "He is systematically working his way up the national list and continues to impress. He will develop into a very, very solid all-around thrower."

NOTABLES (Friday – Bulldog Invite)
• Riley Simmons kicked the weekend off for the Tigers with a fifth-place finish in the women's weight throw (16.74m / 54'11.25").
• Kyndia Matlock qualified for the women's 60-meter final (7.63Q) and went on to finish runner up in season-best time (7.58).
• Teammates Gizel Clayton (8.61Q) and Mi'Asia Bergmann (8.73Q) both advanced from the prelims to the final in the women's 60-meter hurdles. Clayton went on to take gold in the final (8.43) with Bergmann finishing as runner up in career-best time (8.65).
• In the men's 60-meter hurdles, Cedric Johnson ran a personal-best time of 8.29 in the prelims before finishing third in the final (8.34).
• Joycelyn Crum cleared an all-time best 3.77 meters (12'4.5") in the women's pole vault to finish fourth.
• In the women's long jump, Jadaja Baxter jumped 5.70 meters (18'8.5") to win the meet. Teammate Gozie Okafor finished fifth (5.30m / 17'4.75").
• Vincent Chenier won the men's mile (4:10.19) with teammate Robert Arnold finishing right behind him in second (4:12.23).
• Gabrielle Cross won the 400 meters in career-best time (54.91) – good for fourth-fastest in the AAC this season. On the men's side, Prior Ochonogor finished as runner up (48.39) and Courtlan Noble finished fourth (48.60).
• Cross doubled back to win the women's 200 meters in personal-best time (24.83) and Bergmann notched her second personal-best of the day, finishing third in 25.11.
• Poorna Raorane won the women's shot put (14.74m / 48'4.5") and Simmons finished third (13.21m / 43'4.25"). Iason Machairas picked up another event win for the Tigers on the men's side with a season-best throw of 17.11 meters (56'1.75") and Sascha Salesius Schmidt was the runner up (17.10m / 56'1.25").
• Dibo launched his career-best and AAC-leading 21.82-meter weight throw to wrap up Friday for the Tigers. That mark is No. 14 in the NCAA this season and third in the NCAA South Region.

NOTABLES (Saturday – Bulldog Open)
• Matlock punched her ticket to the 60-meter final once again on Saturday (7.65q) and went on to run a season-best time of 7.55 in the final to finish as runner up. That time is No. 13 in The American this season.
• Madison Fleming was back on the track Saturday and ran 8.63 in the 60-meter hurdle prelims to qualify for the final second-fastest overall. Bergmann continued her strong weekend and ran 8.68 to qualify third fastest. The duo went on to finish second and fourth in the final, respectively, with Fleming running 8.39 to take silver. On the men's side, Johnson finished fourth in the final (8.34).
• Simmons improved on her performance from Friday with a 17.05-meter (55'11.25") weight throw to finish fifth.
• Chloe Figgins ran the women's mile and finished third (5:09.62).
• Chenier (1:55.02) finished runner up in the men's 800 meters and teammates Arnold (1:56.11) and Chase Pitre (1:57.24) finished fourth and sixth place, respectively.
• Baxter won the women's long jump for the second day in a row – jumping 5.78 meters (18'11.75"), and Crum matched her performance in the women's pole vault from Friday but improved her finish to third.
• In the men's 400 meters, Noble (48.54) and Ochonogor (48.97) finished second and fourth, respectively.
• Raorane won the women's shot put for the second day in a row (14.85m / 48'8.75") and Simmons threw a season-best 13.95 meters (45'9.25") to finish as runner up.
• Dibo threw over 21 meters in the men's weight throw for the second day in a row to finish as runner up (21.25m / 69'8.75") and three other Tigers finished inside the top 10. Jamal Mitchell finished seventh (17.60m / 57'9") and Darrell Harden finished 10^th (16.19m / 53'1.5") – both recording personal-best marks.
• Salesius Schmidt and Machairas flip-flopped positions from Friday night with the former throwing over 18 meters for the first time in 2024 (18.05m / 59'2.75") to win the meet. Machairas (16.81m / 55'2") was the runner up.
• The women's quartet of Matlock, Baxter, Fleming and Cross (3:46.61) won the 4x400-meter relay and the men's squad of Ochonogor, Yakobi, Pitre and Noble (3:14.84) finished runner up.

UP NEXT
• The Tigers head to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on Friday, Feb. 16 to compete at the Redhawks Open, hosted by SEMO.

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Track & Field, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.