Alum Shafiqua Maloney breaks Texas Relays 800m record

AUSTIN – Arkansas alum Shafiqua Maloney clocked a meet record time of 2 minutes, 0.25 seconds during Thursday’s session at the 96th Texas Relays, breaking the record set by Razorback alum Crishauna Williams in 2017.

The picture perfect day included career best performances for Marin Chamberlin in the pole vault and Mary Ellen Eudaly in the 1,500m.

Chamberlin finished third in the pole vault with a clearance of 13-11.25 (4.25) while teammate Hannah Estes placed 12 with an outdoor best of 13-7.25 (4.15).

The height for Chamberlin is an absolute PR, bettering her indoor best of 13-10.5 (4.23) and her previous outdoor best of 13-9.25 (4.20). Estes improved her previous outdoor best of 12-10 (3.91).

From the 19 vaulters in the competition, seven were still vaulting when the bar reached 14-3.25 (4.35). Amari Turner of California was the lone vaulter to make that height for the victory.

After needing a third attempt to get over 13-7.25, Chamberlin made her career best height of 13-11.25 on a first attempt.

Eudaly finished fourth in the 1,500m with a time of 4:21.82 while teammate Chachi Gonzales finished seventh in 4:28.55. Eudaly improved her previous best of 4:25.52.

Texas Tech’s Juliet Cherubet won the race in 4:17.67 with TCU’s Gracie Morris runner-up in 4:19.75 while Olivia Howell of Texas placed third in 4:21.42.

In a two-section 800m final, Maloney led the field through a 400m split of 58.44 and covered the second lap in 1:01.81. She bettered the meet record of 2:02.25 by two full seconds in her opening race of the outdoor season.

Maloney holds the national record for St. Vincent and the Grenadines with a 1:59.94 she set at the end of her 2023 season. This indoor season, she improved her national record to 1:58.69.

Houston’s Kelly-Ann Beckford was the top collegian in the 800m, placing second in 2:02.88. Razorback Sanu Jallow finished third in 2:03.66, which places her No. 6 on the UA all-time outdoor list. Ainley Erzen (2:10.12) and Analisse Batista (2:10.17) were 14th and 15th.

In the first section of the 800m, a crew of 400m sprinters and hurdlers training in Fayetteville raced. A close finish had Alexis Holmes (2:06.72) edging out Jamaica’s Andrenette Knight (2:06.88) as they placed sixth and eighth overall. Gianna Woodruff (2:15.13) and Anna Cockrell (2:15.17) also had a close finish.

Sara Van Aken concluded the second day of the heptathlon with a score of 5,080 to place 12th.