Florida A&M University began its indoor track and field season at the Clemson Opener on Friday, posting several notable performances across sprinting, hurdling, and jumping events.
Freshman Janaree Kinchen made her collegiate debut in the women’s 60 meters by advancing to the final with a personal best of 7.40 seconds in the preliminaries. She finished fourth overall in 7.52 seconds. Senior Diandrenique Gaines secured third place in the final, clocking 7.47 after a preliminary time of 7.41.
Kinchen also stood out in the 200 meters with a time of 24.29 seconds, placing among the top competitors in that event. Sophomore Arayana Ladson ran 24.50 and senior Kiersten Clark finished with 24.56, giving Florida A&M three strong early-season results among sprinters.
In hurdles, sophomore Ty’yana Adams reached the final of the women’s 60-meter hurdles after setting a personal record of 8.37 seconds in prelims and finishing with an 8.64 in the final round. Junior Katelynn Smith set her own personal best at 8.59.
The Rattlers’ women jumpers recorded several top-10 finishes as well: sophomore Jade-Ann Smith jumped 5.69 meters in long jump and posted an opening mark of 11.93 meters in triple jump; junior Zekira Snow recorded a long jump of 5.57 meters; freshman Jah’kyla Morton registered a distance of 5.19 meters.
On the men’s side, senior DJ Lawrence won the men’s 60 meters with a school-record time of 6.62 seconds—one of the fastest marks at this meet—and later placed eighth in the men’s 200 meters at 21.66 seconds.
Sophomore Evan Brown achieved a personal record by running a preliminary time of 6.80 seconds for the men’s 60 meters and added a performance of 21.81 seconds in the men’s 200 meters; freshman Jayden Phillips completed his race in that event at 21.42 seconds.
Florida A&M’s men’s hurdlers also saw success: senior Leonard Mustari won the men’s 60-meter hurdles with both school and personal records at a time of 7.67 seconds; sophomore Joseph Desrosier took third place with a finish at 7.88.
Senior William Shelton delivered another victory for Florida A&M by winning the men’s 400 meters with a personal best time of 47.40 seconds.
In field events, Ezekiel Salama earned second place in weight throw, achieving his own best mark at just over sixty-four feet (64-1¾).
The team ended their meet by securing third place in the men’s four-by-400 meter relay with a combined time of three minutes, ten point eighty-eight seconds (3:10.88).
