Tyra Gittens of Texas A&M set a college record, meeting record, personal best, and Trinidad and Tobago national record on her way to capturing the women’s Pentathlon impressively on Day 1 at the 2021 NCAA DI Indoor National Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, AR., on Thursday.
Smash College Record With PB
Gittens, who also broke the Randal Tyson Track Center facility record, tallied 4,746 points to improve the previous collegiate record of 4,703 points, set by former Georgia star Kendell Williams in 2016.
The Aggies junior entered the final event of the Pentathlon – the 800m – with a lead of over 500 points ahead of her nearest rivals while sitting 672 points shy of Williams’ record.
And although she finished 15th of the 16 runners in the 800m, her best time of 2:28.22 was enough to secure 715 points, which helped her bettered the old record by 43 points.
“Today was just all about taking a chance and trusting myself and my training,” Gittens told ESPN during an interview after she was able to recover from the best indoor 800m she’s ever done during the Pentathlon. “It was perfectly executed and I couldn’t be prouder.”
When asked which one of her records she was most proud of, Gittens added: “collegiate record.”
“Since I was in high school that’s all I wanted and I am so blessed and honored to have been able to do it today at this perfect meet.”
Meanwhile, finishing second to Gittens in the women’s Pentathlon was Georgia’s Anna Hall who totaled 4,401 points, while Duke senior Erin Marsh secured the bronze medal after she scored a personal best 4,344 points.
Rounding out the top five finishers were Notre Dame freshman Jadin O’Brien with a personal scored of 4,296 points and Florida junior Sterling Lester with 4,213 points, which was also a personal best mark.
The 2021 NCAA DI Indoor Championships continue on Friday’s Day Two and concludes on Saturday.
