Records fall as Rangers shine in Abilene

The Ranger College track and field record books received a major rewrite on April 17 at the Warhawk Classic in Abilene.

Jeremias Serrano-Velez shattered the college's all-time mark in the 800- and 5,000-meter races and helped power the Rangers to a sixth-place finish in the men's final team standings. In all, more than a dozen teams, including several 4-year institutions, competed in the event.

Serrano-Velez established the school's new all-time mark in the 800 by legging out a time of 1 minute, 55.32 seconds. He had previously set the school record in the event earlier this season.

Serrano-Velez added another record to his resume by winning the 5,000-meter race in a time of 15:12.74. His time was more than 22 seconds faster than the University of Texas-Dallas' Graeme MacLean's second-place time of 15:34.76.

Serrano-Velez's time bested RC's all-time mark in the race which was set last week by Troy Wiles.

Wiles was fifth in the Warhawk Classic's 5,000-meter race with a time of 15:45.65.

More important than the record, Serrano-Velez's win guaranteed Ranger College both he and Wiles will be advancing to the NJCAA national outdoor meet in the 5,000-meter race.

The Rangers also turned in a historic outing in 4x800-meter relay. Competing in the event for the first time since 2012, the team of Christian Parra, Marco Ramirez-Salgado, Andrew Nunez and Azael Reyes legged out a second-place time of 8:46.89.

The Rangers are scheduled to compete in the Tarleton State Relays on April 22.