by Jeff Clark

TYLER -- The UT Tyler Track and Field teams competed in their first meet of the season on Friday afternoon at Grace Community School in Tyler in the UT Tyler/Lon Morris East Texas Time Trials.

Along with UT Tyler and Lon Morris, other participating schools were Texas College, Texas Wesleyan, Wiley College and Centenary.

Patriot thrower Buck Thompson broke the school records in both the shot put and discus competitions. In the shot put, Thompson threw 51 feet 5 inches, beating the record of 46 feet 10 1/4 inches previously held by fellow teammate Chris Stonestreet. 

Thompson's throw in the discus was 158 feet 9 1/2 inches, overtaking Stonestreet, who had broken the record minutes before. The previous school record was held by Josh Twine with 137 feet. 

Other strong performances from the Patriots were given by Christian Kearney, who placed third in the long jump with a mark of 22 feet, Meagan Whetstone received third place in the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 63.53, and Chealsea Grigsby and Kealey Gaffney, who were awarded first and second place respectively in the women's triple jump. 

The Patriots next meet is scheduled for Feb. 24 at Texas A&M Commerce.