Trinidad and Tobago’s national Tyra Gittens claimed the NCAA pentathlon National championship with a collegiate-record score of 4,764 points, Thursday evening (11 March) at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
While setting a collegiate record, the multi-athlete also set a facility record, Trinidad and Tobago national record and became the first female Aggie to win an individual indoor title since 2014 when Brea Garrett won the weight throw. Gittens’ score of 4,764 points is the most in the pentathlon by a female athlete from a Caribbean nation.
En route to setting an overall personal best in the pentathlon, she set personal records in three of the five events, while winning three events.
Gittens’ day started with clocking 8.27 in the 60m hurdles, .01 seconds faster than her previous personal best. She followed by winning the high jump at 1.93m, which bettered her previous school record of 1.91m. The high-flyer owns the top five all-time performances in Aggie history; she has cleared 1.93m, 1.91m, 1.89m, 1.88m and 1.87m in her career.
Her clearance also equalled the Trinidad and Tobago national record held by Natasha Alleyne-Gibson.
She continued to show her dominance, winning the shot put at 13.86m/45-5.75, less than two inches short of her personal record. The junior followed by winning the long jump on her final attempt at 6.58m, which was just short of her personal record of 6.62m.
Gittens capped the record performance by clocking a personal-best 800m time of 2:28.22, which produced an overall pentathlon score of 4,764.
The Aggies begin day two of the NCAA Indoor Championships tomorrow at 2 p.m.
