Julissa Rodriguez (photo by Bryce Hayes)

Posted: Jan 29, 2023

Eight Bulldogs Post Top 10 Finishes at McNeese Indoor Invite

LAKE CHARLES, LA -- Eight Texas Lutheran Bulldogs finished in the top 10 of their events Friday at the McNeese Indoor Invite in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Julissa Rodriguez (Deer Park/Deer Park) highlighted the day by setting a new school record in the women's shot put - with a mark of 12.84m (42' 1.5") surpassing Dejah Carr's previous record mark of 39'5.25". The mark places her 33rd in the nation for the 2022-23 indoor season.

Also finishing in the top 10 on Friday were:

Emagen Styra, tenth in the shot put;
Ashlynn Recknagel, finished third in the pole vault (3.05m) and tenth in the 400m dash (1:04.29) in her first collegiate meet;
Ja'Keia Williams (La Grange/La Grange) and Taylor Norrell (Lake Jackson/Brazosport), ninth and tenth, respectively, in the 55 meters;
Aaliyah Leal (Ingleside/Aransas Pass), LeeAnndrea Canas (Corpus Christi/West Oso), and Caeli Taylor (Tilden/McMullen County) seventh through ninth in the 600 meters;
Taylor Norrell also finished fifth in the 55 meter hurdles (9.78 seconds), just shy of her school record.

Full Results:https://tf.tfrrs.org/results/77194/f/McNeese_State_Indoor_2#4647760

Coach Holland's Comments: "We were only able to bring a small fraction of our team, but those who were able to compete did well. I was pleased with how competitive all of them were and enjoyed watching everyone in all of their events. It was a great meet for us.

On the women's side freshman pole vaulter Ashlynn opened up the indoor season with her first-ever collegiate competition and third place overall. Julissa had a new school record en route to placing third overall in the women's shot put (former record Dejah Carr 39-5 1/4, new record 42-1 1/2). Taylor opened up the hurdles with a 5th place finish, just shy of her own school record set last year. Ja'Keia showed her speed by winning her preliminary heat of the 55 and finishing eighth overall in the finals after just finishing running the open 400. Another notable performance was Aaliyah in the 600 meters. The gun went off and she just took off and never looked back. She was way ahead until her own teammate LeeAnndrea who came from way behind and mounted a huge kick to try to catch her.

As a whole, we did well. We didn't even have half of our team there and overall our men were 5th of 12 and our women were 8th of 12. I singled out some performances, but, generally, we had quite a few more. It was entertaining and fun to watch all day long. Can't wait for the next one!"

For all updates on Texas Lutheran Track and Field, follow @tluthrows and @tluxctf on Instagram as well as all official TLU Athletics accounts.