Louisville, Ky., Jan. 27, 2024 – The University of South Florida track and field wrapped up the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational in Louisville, Ky., and are walking away having taken first place in six different final events, set three program records and one meet record, all while adding 21 new entries to USF track and field Top-10 lists.
Running Events:
The two-day Lousiville event fired the first gun on Friday at 10:00 am in the 60m dash and Abdul-Rasheed Saminu made his USF debut by advancing to Saturday's qualifying with the fastest time (6.72) of the preliminary field. Saturday at 10:00 am, both Saminu (6.70) and Zayquan Lincoln (6.73) put down qualifying times that advanced them to the finals later that afternoon. In the 60m final, Saminu broke the USF program record with his time of 6.67, finishing in second place and Lincoln set a personal best with a 6.69 time, finishing in fourth. With these new times, that makes four men on the active roster with 60m dash times under 6.70 seconds this season. Jaleel Croal ran a 6.69 and Jermaine Dyges a 6.68 at the previous Jimmy Carnes Invitational meet two weeks prior.
Shaniya Benjamin also set a program record at this meet. On Friday afternoon, Benjamin ran a 23.85 in the 200m to finish third and dethrone Hannah Connell (23.87) from the top of the USF womens 200m leaderboards.
The meet concluded with both the men and women 4x400 relay teams taking first place. The men set both a meet and program record with their time of 3:07.61 from Tre'Sean Bouie, Shevioe Reid, Markel Jones, and Daunte O'Banion, finishing three seconds ahead of second-place Ohio State University. The women teamed up Zahria Allers-Liburd, Benjamin, Je'Nyia Burton, and Terren Peterson to run a time of 3:41.48 and finish five seconds ahead of second place Lousiville University.
Both Reid and Burton from those first-place relay teams also earned an additional first-place victory in separate events. On Friday afternoon Reid ran a 21.14 time in the mens 200m to take first. While on Saturday morning, Burton took home first in the womens 400m with a time of 54.85.
Multiple other Bulls put up times that etched them into USF's top-10 history. In the mens 200m behind Reid's victory, Nathan Metelus (21.29) moved into second all-time, Croal (21.51) moved into fourth, and Bouie (21.61) moved into eighth. In the womens 200m behind Benjamin's victory, Peterson ran a 24.11 and moved into sixth all-time, while Burton ran a 24.41 which was good for tenth. In the mens 400m, Bouie ran a 47.45 which sits him third all-time in that event, while in the womens 400m, Peterson ran a 55.42, placing her fifth. Dual sport athlete Arden La-Rose competed in her first event of the season, the womens 800m. La-Rose finished in 2:13.56, which places her eighth all-time for women in that event. In the mens 3000m, Tyler Wadsworth finished with a time of 8:35.87 to claim seventh, while Johnny Reid finished in 8:41.63 good for eighth.
Jumping Events:
Goodness Iredia finished in first place and established a PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational Meet record in the triple jump with his mark of 15.92 in the event. The mark also moves him into fourth place all-time in USF men's triple jump history.
Benjamin could not stay off the podium and out of the record book in Louisville, finishing first in the womens long jump with a 6.24 in the event.
Throwing Events:
Alexandria Hunter came in second in the women's weight throw competition with an 18.00m throw, the mark moving her into eighth in USF history for this event.
Jazmyn James put up a mark of 14.54 in the womens shot put, good for fifth all-time in USF women's history for the event.
About USF Track and Field
The USF track and field team has earned 56 All-America selections and at least one All-American in 10 of the last 12 years, including a record eight athletes claiming 11 honors in 2021. Romaine Beckford won the 2023 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the men's high jump. Tampa native Shaniya Benjamin set a program record earning three All-American honors during the 2021 outdoor season, while triple jumper Matthew O'Neal, a 2016 graduate, became USF's first six-time NCAA All-American. Bulls have posted two NCAA runner-up finishes since 2013 - O'Neal (triple jump, 2016) and Courtney Anderson (high jump, 2013). Head coach Erik Jenkins took over the program in 2020 and in the 2021 outdoor season the Bulls posted seven program records and 40 top 10 all-time program marks. USF hosted the 2018 NCAA Track and Field East Preliminary and the 2021 AAC Outdoor Championship at the USF Track and Field Stadium located on the east end of campus.
– #GoBulls –
