EL PASO, Texas (May 10, 2024) - The FIU track and field program got off to a strong start Friday at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships, highlighted by a pair of silver medals from
Fabiola Declet and
Christiana Ellina and a bronze from
Kayden Cecil in his final meet as a Panther.
RESULTS
Declet took silver in the long jump with a mark of 6.04m, an impressive improvement from her previous PR of 5.92m set at the Pacific Coast Invite. Declet also ended day one in the lead in the heptathlon with 3230 points.
"Fabi had an incredible day, and really set the tone for us" said head coach
Ryan Heberling. "We're excited to see how she can finish things off tomorrow in the long jump, jav, and 800."
Sophomore
Christiana Ellina earned eight points in the javelin with her mark of 49.60m to take silver, her first medal as a Panther.
In the men's pole vault,
Kayden Cecil picked up the bronze with his mark of 4.98m, earning his first medal in his time at FIU after narrowly missing the podium last year with a fourth place mark. Teammate
Ethan Riley took fourth Friday, also leaping 4.98m.
In the men's long jump, freshman
Nigel Katende placed fifth with a leap of 7.20m to pick up four points for the Panthers.
In the women's 1500, FIU saw three athletes qualify for the finals - with
Valerie Lastra,
Lisa Adjouadi, and
Ania San Roman Lopez all advancing.
Hannah Buchanan narrowly missed advancing with a 13th place mark - the Panthers had four runners in the top 13.
Action will continue Saturday at noon, beginning with the men's decathlon 110 hurdles.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIU_TRACK on Twitter, @fiu_trackandfield on Instagram and @FIUTrackXC on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram
