Stabler, John Named Southland Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year

2/25/2015 2:41:09 PM

Southland Conference

FRISCO, Texas – Lamar senior runner Sam Stabler and junior Jannika John were named the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year by a vote of the league’s head coaches, the conference office announced Wednesday.

For the second straight year, Stabler has been selected as the men’s athlete of the year and outstanding runner after capturing the mile run at the indoor championships with a time of 4:09.48, winning the 3,000-meter in 8:18.67 and being a part of Lamar’s first-place distance medley relay team (10:05.88). The Queniborough, England (Ratcliffe College), native was also the men’s high point scorer for the second consecutive year, recording a total of 22.5 points. Stabler received the same honors a season ago after setting the Southland indoor championship record in the mile with a time of 4:03.14. This past November, the senior won the Southland Cross Country Championship and was named the men’s cross country athlete of the year.

Northwestern State’s Aaron Williams earned outstanding field performer after claiming first-place finishes in the long jump and triple jump at the indoor meet. Williams, a junior from Duson, La. (Acadiana H.S.), recorded a leap of 24-07.75 feet (7.51m) in the long jump and had a mark of 51-01 feet (15.57m) in the triple jump.

Rosen Daniel of Abilene Christian was named men’s newcomer of the year for winning the 200-meter dash, placing third in the 400-meter and running a leg of ACU's third-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. The Coppin State transfer and Castries, St. Lucia, native posted a time of 21.32 in the 200-meters and ran the 400-meters in 47.01, which was faster than the old Southland indoor meet record of 47.34 but just shy of the meet and Birmingham Crossplex record set by Cass Brown-Stewart of Stephen F. Austin in the same race (46.49). Similarly, the Wildcats’ 4x400m relay time of 3:12.51 was third best in Southland indoor championship history.

Sam Houston State’s Tyler Adams was tabbed male freshman of the year after winning the heptathlon and high jump. The Oakwood, Texas (Buffalo H.S.), native tallied 5,221 points in the heptathlon as he won the long jump, high jump and 60-meter hurdles while setting the indoor meet record in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:37.62. Adams jumped for 7-01 feet (2.16m) in the high jump to claim the top stop.

John earned women’s athlete of the year honors for the Lady Cardinals after setting two Southland indoor meet records while taking first in three total events. The Furstenfeldbruck, Germany, native and Technische Universitat Munchen transfer won the 3,000-meter in a record-setting time of 9:30.98, breaking the old record by almost nine seconds. John earned first place in the 5,000-meter as well with a record of time of 16:36.01, which was over nine seconds faster than the previous record. The junior was also part of Lamar’s winning distance medley relay team who ran the race in 11:47.06.

Stephen F. Austin’s Demi Payne claimed outstanding field performer honors for her first-place pole vault mark of 14-00.50 feet (4.28m) at the indoor meet. The New Braunfels, Texas (New Braunfels H.S.), native and Kansas transfer set a Southland championship record with her jump, breaking the old record of 13-05.25 (4.10m). Payne owns the NCAA women’s indoor pole vault record at 15-07 (4.75m) and has four of the top five jumps in the college history.

Verity Ockenden of Lamar earned outstanding runner and women’s newcomer of the year accolades as she claimed the 800-meter run, placed second in the mile and finished third in the 3,000-meters. The Shaftesbury, England, and Swansea University transfer posted a winning time of 2:13.09 in the 800-meters and ran the mile in 4:52.20. Ockenden had a time of 9:49.42 in the 3,000m run for the third-place finish.

The Lady Cardinals’ Minttu Hukka was tabbed female freshman of the year after winning the mile run and leading the distance medley relay team to a first-place finish. The Kotka, Finland (Kotkan Lyseon Lukio), native captured the mile with a time of 4:51.69 and led Lamar to a winning 11:47.06 time in the DMR. Hukka was named women’s cross country athlete and freshmen of the year back in November after claiming the Southland Cross Country Championship.

Earning men’s and women’s coach of the year honors was Phil Olson of Stephen F. Austin. Olson guided his men’s team to their third indoor title and led the women’s team to their eighth, the most of any current or former Southland program. After receiving women’s coach of the year honors from 2005-06 and again from 2009-13, Olson has been named for the yearly award more times than any other coach. Olson earned men’s coach of the year honors in 2005 and 2013, joining John Sauerhage of former league member Texas-Arlington as the only two coaches who have earned both men’s and women’s honors in the same year three times.

The top-three finishers in each event earned All-Southland Conference honors. The winner earned first-team honors, the second place finisher earned second-team accolades while third place finishers received a spot on the third-team.

Men’s Individual Award Winners
Male Athlete of the Year: Sam Stabler, Lamar
Male Outstanding Field Events: Aaron Williams, Northwestern State
Male Outstanding Running Events: Sam Stabler, Lamar
Male Newcomer of the Year: Rosen Daniel, Abilene Christian
Male Freshman of the Year: Tyler Adams, Sam Houston State
Men’s Coach of the Year: Phil Olson, Stephen F. Austin

Men’s Indoor Track and Field All-Conference Teams

Event	1st	2nd	3rd
60-Meter Dash	Justin Jenkins, SHSU	Raheem Brown, SLU	Trevon Caudle, SFA
60-Meter Hurdles	Brent Giddens, NSU	Kerry Gleason, SFA	William Stark, SHSU
200-Meter Dash	Rosen Daniel, ACU	Constant Pretorius, UNO	Rodney Jones, SHSU
400-Meter Dash	Cass Brown-Stewart, SFA	Rodney Jones, SHSU	Rosen Daniel, ACU
800-Meter Run	Daniel Block, ACU	Jeffrey Moore, SHSU	Valentinas Rudys, AMCC
Mile Run	Sam Stabler, LU	Oliver James, MCN	Stuart Ferguson, LU
*4x400-Meter Relay	Stephen F. Austin	Central Arkansas	Abilene Christian
3,000-Meter Run	Sam Stabler, LU	Alex Dunbar, LU	Jan Lukas Becker, LU
5,000-Meter Run	Charles Mathenge, SFA	Alex Dunbar, LU	Jan Lukas Becker, LU
*DMR	Lamar	Abilene Christian	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
High Jump	Tyler Adams, SHSU	Eric Moore, UCA	Lawrence Wallace, NSU
Pole Vault	Cameron Meyer, SFA	Daven Murphree, SFA	Daniel Spickes, UCA
Long Jump	Aaron Williams, NSU	Trey Darty, SFA	Kartavius Hamilton, MCN
Triple Jump	Aaron Williams, NSU	Gennard Paul, SLU	Zhaquan Porter, NSU
Shot Put	Cedric Paul, NSU	Alexander Young, SLU	Kai Schmidt, ACU
Weight Throw	Alexander Young, SLU	Jonathan Kinchen, SLU	Brett Olsen, SLU
Heptathlon	Tyler Adams, SHSU	Cody Rhodes, SFA	Jay Roberson, SHSU

*4x400-Meter Relay:
1. Stephen F. Austin – (Jonathon Joe, Josh Taylor, My’Lik Kerley, Cass Brown-Stewart)
2. Central Arkansas – (Trevon Boyd, Kelton Ray, Jeremiah Watson, Chance Tanner)
3. Abilene Christian – (Devan Brown, Rosen Daniel, Osei Allyene-Forte, Deandre McBride)

*Distance Medley Relay:
1. Lamar – (Stuart Ferguson, Trey Davis, TaMar Hicks, Sam Stabler)
2. Abilene Christian – (Ryan Cleary, Osei Allyene-Forte, Sterlen Paul, Daniel Block)
3. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – (Paul Hansel, Jackson Davis, Valentinas Rudys, Logan Pittdman)

Women’s Individual Award Winners
Female Athlete of the Year: Jannika John, Lamar
Female Outstanding Field Events: Demi Payne, Stephen F. Austin
Female Outstanding Running Events: Verity Ockenden, Lamar
Female Newcomer of the Year: Verity Ockenden, Lamar
Female Freshman of the Year: Minttu Hukka, Lamar
Women’s Coach of the Year: Phil Olson, Stephen F. Austin

Women’s Indoor Track and Field All-Conference Teams

Event	1st	2nd	3rd
60-Meter Dash	Brarysheyia Simpson, SFA	Maegan Moore, MCN	Paula Smith, SHSU
60-Meter Hurdles	Danielle Demas, SHSU	Alexia Fortenberry, UNO	Lauren Thompson, MCN
200-Meter Dash	Chasity Clark, SFA	Kimone Green, ACU	Aliyah Davis, SFA
400-Meter Dash	Kimone Green, ACU	Jordan Grady, SHSU	Brarysheyia Simpson, SFA
800-Meter Run	Verity Ockenden, LU	Kierstin Santana, HBU	Petrene Plummer, ACU
Mile Run	Minttu Hukka, LU	Verity Ockenden, LU	Rana Ryan, SFA
*4x400-Meter Relay	Sam Houston State	Stephen F. Austin	Abilene Christian
3,000-Meter Run	Jannika John, LU	Leigh Lattimore, LU	Verity Ockenden, LU
5,000-Meter Run	Jannika John, LU	Leigh Lattimore, LU	Evelyn Chavez, LU
*DMR	Lamar	Stephen F. Austin	Abilene Christian
High Jump	Melai Carter, SFA	Jasmine Waring, UIW	Kerissa Wiley, AMCC
Pole Vault	Demi Payne, SFA	Nicole Casper, MCN	Kara Whitson, SHSU
Long Jump	Taylor Thomas, HBU	Paula Smith, SHSU	Winnie Ileso, SHSU
Triple Jump	Porsha Thomas, NSU	Kierranika Duncan, NICH	Breann Denson, NSU
Shot Put	Keona Jackson, NSU	Jermisha Frazier, SLU	Brandi Huff, AMCC
Weight Throw	Ashley Jenkins, SHSU	Rechelle Bessard, NSU	Jermisha Frazier, SLU
Pentathlon	Shambrail Woods, SFA	Farydah Inoussa, UNO	Madeline Kaufmann, SFA

*4x400-Meter Relay:
1. Sam Houston State – (Camry Grigsby, Kodii Church, Ruth Amaku, Jordan Grady)
2. Stephen F. Austin – (Dar’Keisha Tryon, Cierra Jefferson, Jessica Hatchett, DeJernel Jordan)
3. Abilene Christian – (Kimone Green, Petrene Plummer, Taylor Yantis, Jessica James)

*Distance Medley Relay:
1. Lamar – (Jannika John, JaLana Owens, Alexandra Sokolova, Minttu Hukka)
2. Stephen F. Austin – (Taylor Anderson, Valerie Osmar, Katrina Fite, Rana Ryan)
3. Abilene Christian – (Diana Garcia-Munoz, Jessica James, Petrene Plummer, Alexandria Hackett)