Wichita State senior Paula Garcia became the first Shocker woman to break the 24-second barrier in the 200-meter dash, setting a new school record at the All-Kansas Invite in Topeka.

Garcia’s time of 23.82 also set a new facility record at Washburn and currently ranks her first in the American Athletic Conference.

“I’m extremely proud of Paula and what she did today, not only for breaking the school record in the 200m but also for running her best ever 4×400 split (53.3) afterwards,” springs/hurdles coach John Wise said in a release. “She is one of the most dedicated athletes I’ve ever worked with, and we think this is only the beginning of a great season. Working with someone like her is why I got into coaching.”Senior Yazmine Wright also broke the facility record in the 800 meters with a time of 2:11.28. Michael Bryan’s 20.71m/67-11.5 throw in the weight throw and Destiny Masters’ clearance of 1.78m/5-10 in the high jump also were facility records. Masters set meet record to her day in the long jump with a leap of 5.81m/19-0.75. 

Five other Shockers set new meet records at the All-Kansas invite, including Adam Moore, whose first-place time of 4:02.32 in the mile is now the third best in school history. Danielle Rinn won the mile on the women’s side and Dowdy Elazarig (long jump), Brady Palen (high jump) and Faith Turner (triple jump) broke the meet records in their events.

WSU also found success in the men’s 200m, as Joakim Genereux took second with a time of 21.58. Clayton Duchatschek ran a personal-best time of 8:20.37 in the 300 meters to enter the top-10 list at number nine. Margaux Thompson cleared 3.60m/11-9.75 to win the pole vault.

Next up, the Shockers will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska this weekend for the Adidas Classic on Friday and Saturday.