Womens Distance Runners End Season with Four PRs at Rock Chalk Classic

OPSU Women's Results (Rock Chalk Classic) | OPSU Women's Results (Sooner Invitational)

LAWRENCE, Kan. Runners from the Oklahoma Panhandle State women's track & field team competed Friday and Saturday at the Rock Chalk Classic, hosted by the University of Kansas, where the distance runners came through with several personal records.

In the 1,500-meters Friday night, both Carolina Valenzuela and Shania Chavez recorded their fastest times as Aggies. Valenzuela stopped the clock at 5:05.75, while Chavez ran a 5:10.34.

"She rocked it today," Hall said of Chavez' performance as he noted the continuous improvement of his top distance runners and showed a vote of confidence in their abilities.

In the 100-meters, Ashlynn Perez and Akia Bowens both raced and came in with times at 12.77 and 13.17 seconds, respectively.

Breyanna Kemp and Paizlie Reyna-Mata ran the 200-meters and posted marks of 25.18 and 26.60 seconds, with Kemp earning a seventh-place finish out of 25 competitors.

On Saturday, the 800-meters runners of Ki'Anna Jones and Valenzuela shined with personal records since racing for Panhandle State. Jones easily posted the Aggies' best time of the season by coming in at 2:25.51, while Valenzuela had the team's third fastest time of the season at 2:27.87.

"Ki'Anna and Carolina ran pretty well. Ki'Ann ran a college personal-best 22:25, about a second off the school record. ... Carolina ran 2:27. I like where our distance kids are at," Hall said. "I feel good about like, 'Hey, we took a big step this year from 800-meters up, and if we can get them to train a little bit in the summertime they could have a really, really good year next year."

The 4x100-meters relay team of Bowens, Reyna-Mata, Kemp and Perez completed OPSU's efforts at the Rock Chalk Classic, coming in fourth at 48.75 seconds.

"We were flat," Hall said. "We looked good, we just didn't run fast. The 4x1's, they ran well, they executed their handoffs, they just looked slow. I just think long travel, coming off conference, everybody's kind of flat."

Separately, Brittney Carrasco also competed Saturday morning at the University of Oklahoma's Sooner Invitational. She took eighth in a hammer throw event loaded with NCAA Division I athletes, posting a solid mark of 38.09 meters.

What's up next: Barring a change in plans, the weekend's events concluded the OPSU women's track & field season as they look for continued improvement from within and a strong recruiting class to arrive on campus in 2026-27.