Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Week Six Summaries
Garside nets top Central Arkansas finish in Oxford
OXFORD, Miss. ? The University of Central Arkansas’ men’s and women’s track and field teams participated at the Ole Miss Invitational on Saturday. The Bears and Sugar Bears competed against the host Rebels, Grand Valley State, Mississippi State, Arkansas State, Notre Dame, Saint Louis, Samford, Rhodes, Louisiana-Monroe, Tulane, Alabama-Huntsville, Jackson State, Louisiana Tech, Emory, Arkansas-Little Rock, Western Kentucky, Harding, Union, Christian Brothers, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Murray State, Memphis and Jacksonville State at the meet.
Senior Lori Garside had the highest finish for the women, placing fourth in the high jump at 1.60-meters (5-feet, 3-inches). Freshman Shantell Moore placed 13th in the 400 hurdles in 1:06.62. Senior Rene Hooper took 17th in the 5,000 in 19:52.71 and freshman Autumn Stewart was 18th in the discus with a throw of 36.92-meters (121-1).
Freshman Bobby Washington tied for sixth place in the men’s high jump with a 2.00-meter (6-6.75) leap. Sophomore Sohji Izumi placed eighth in the javelin at 50.64-meters (166-2). Sophomore Logan Dockery took 10th in the 5,000-meters in 15:45.18 and sophomore Phillip Boles finished 14th in the 100 in 10.73 seconds. Freshman Sage Raphael placed 16th in the 400 in 48.91 seconds and sophomore Matthew Mason was 17th in the 800 in 1:54.59.
Both teams will compete at the TCU Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday.
Bailey’s long jump leads host Lamar at Ty Terrell Relays
BEAUMONT, Texas ? The 48th Annual ExxonMobil Ty Terrell Relays came to a close Saturday evening at the Ty Terrell Track on the campus of Lamar University.
Highlighting the men’s results for Lamar was the regional qualifying performance of Craig Bailey in the long jump. The freshman from Port Arthur, Texas won the long jump with a leap of 24.28 feet in his first action of the year.
Other Cardinals earning top finishes include Julius Kasule (seventh, 400), Austin Malek (fifth, 800), Bob Ahimbisibwe (third, 1,500), Frank Bwambale (fifth, 1,500), Chase Pizzonia (fifth, 3,000)
The women’s meet was highlighted by Ashley Smith’s sixth place finish in the 200-meter dash and Emily Carpenter’s performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Smith posted a time of 25.01 in the 200, while Carpenter ran to a 12:16.64 finish in the steeplechase. Both times rank sixth in the Southland Conference this season.
Taylor Cloy placed second in the 3,000 run with a time of 10:33.62. Teammates Daisy Cantu and Sandy Castro placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the same event.
Other Lady Cardinals earning top finishes include Adrianne Johnson (second, 100 hurdles), Angel Bassett (third, 400 hurdles)
Cowboys, Cowgirls combine for four victories in Baton Rouge, Beaumont
Christi McRae, Amanda LeJeune, Tinette Burger and Ryan Barrow posted first-place efforts in track and field meets on two fronts for McNeese State on Saturday.
McRae won the 400, Burger the women’s 3,000 and Barrow the men’s 3,000-meter run at the Southern Pelican Relays in Baton Rouge, La., while LeJeune claimed victory the women’s javelin throw at the Ty Terrell Relays in Beaumont, Texas.
McRae posted a career best of 53.66 in taking the quarter-mile event, and she also finished second in the 200-meter dash with a 24.63.
Burger ran 11:00.27 in the 3,000-meters and Barrow posted a 9:04.04.
In Beaumont, LeJeune went a personal-best throw of 139-feet, 2-inches to win the javelin.
Also in Baton Rouge, Alvy Carragher finished second in the 3,000 with an 11:20.38 and Katarina Caraway was third at 11:30.71. Ronald Stine ran 21.91 to place second in the 200 while Andre Salmon was third at 21.92.
Other results from the Ty Terrell Relays include Erin Kleckley and Emily Lewis fifth-place tie in the pole vault at 10-2, DeAnn Washington took second in the discus at 134-0 and third in the shot put, and Amber Kelly placed second in the javelin, fifth in the shot and seventh in the discus.
For the Cowboys in Beaumont, Jacob Domingue was second in the shot put at 53-1 and fifth in the discus at 149-2 while Jared Crafton was fourth in the shot at 49-4 and 10th in the discus. Lance Ardoin placed fourth in the pole vault.
Colonels put forth strong showing at USA Invite
MOBILE, Ala. ? The Colonels had another strong showing at the USA Invitational over the weekend as school records were broken and several athletes had Top-Five performances.
“I thought we had really good meet and it was a great tune-up prior to the Kansas Relays,” head track and field coach Scott Williamson said. “We competed against some great competition and I was really impressed by the hard work of our athletes.”
Leslie Bourgeois set a meet record as she placed first in the javelin competition with a season best throw of 46.98m, just one inch shy of the USA Senior qualifying mark. Bourgeois has had a top-three finish in every meet this season.
Also performing well in the javelin throw was newly acquired freshman Danielle Daigle. Daigle placed third in the event with a throw of 41.00-meters.
Kadi Whisnant placed second and broke the school record in the 3,000 steeplechase event with a time of 12:19.03. The previous school record was set in 2002 by Johanna Sjögren at the SLC Championships.
In the 400 hurdles event, Sabrina Henkes broke her personal best school record with a time of 1:04.16 that was good enough for second place in the event.
The Nicholls 1,600 relay team placed second at the meet with a time of 3:53.63. The mark moved the relay team to second in the school’s Top-Five list and was just 0.31 seconds short of breaking the school record.
Other notable performances included Jarina Guilbeau’s 15.25 mark in the 100 hurdles competition, which landed her a fourth-place finish, and Imma Kosgei’s third-place finish in the 1,500 run with a time of 4:51.20.
Nicholls State will travel to Lawrence, Kansas on Thursday, April 16, to compete in the much anticipated Kansas Relays hosted by the University of Kansas. The event will start Thursday and conclude Saturday.
Four wins, fast times for Northwestern State in Tallahassee
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Northwestern State hurdler Mike Hill improved his national ranking while winning the 110-meter hurdles Saturday, among four winning performances for Northwestern State at the Seminole Invitational track and field meet hosted by Florida State.
Hill shaved 0.04 off his previous best, running a 14.01 that could bump him up a couple of places above his national 20th ranking in his specialty. Teammate P.J. Bennett was third in 14.49, a season and personal best.
DeJon Griffin won the women’s hammer with a 165-9 throw, exactly 10 feet better than Florida State’s Caila Coleman. Griffin was third in the discus at 129-1, with teammate Leslie Jordan fourth (126-9).
The Demons’ 400 relay-meter relay team won in 41.06, with Michael Batts, Jamie Emery, Jeremy Thomas and Mike Green combining for a season’s best time.
The Lady Demons finished first in the 1,600 relay as Samantha Flowers, Phyllis Iheanacho, Andrea Warren and Carmen Wallace ran a 3:46.63 time, a season’s best by almost two seconds and the second-fastest time in the SLC.
Christopher Oyeku was the top collegiate finisher in the men’s long jump and triple jump. His 22-9.25 long jump matched his season’s best. Four unattached competitors bettered his performance Saturday.
Oyeku made a successful 2009 triple jump debut, taking second overall with a 48-7.5 leap which moves him into fifth on the Southland Conference rankings. Teammate Derek Johnson was fourth at 44-10.75.
The Demons went 2-3 in the men’s discus, with Corey Jones throwing 162-11 and Buck Thompson tossing it 158-6. Jones was also second in the shot put (52-6.75), with freshman Thompson third (49-3.75) and Morgan Redmond, another freshman, fifth (47-6.25).
Anna Forest had a season’s best 11.87 time in the 100-meter dash, taking third and missing NCAA Regional qualification by 0.12. Her time ranks third in the SLC this spring. Wallace ran a personal best 1:03.22 for third in the women’s 400-meter hurdles but did not move up above her No. 5 ranking in the conference.
The Lady Demons’ 400 relay team of Amanda Freeman, Jazmen Williams, Jessica Tuck and Forest ran a season-best 45.95 for second place. The clocking is the best in the SLC this spring and missed NCAA Regional qualifying by 0.25.
Green ran a 21.35 for fourth overall, second among collegians, in the men’s 200, just ahead of Thomas (21.57) in fifth. Green’s time ranks second in the SLC, just 0.01 off the fastest mark, while Thomas moved into third place in the league standings.
Tuck took fifth in the women’s 200 (24.81, fifth in the SLC) and Warren was fifth in the women’s 400 (56.94, nearly a second better than her previous best and the sixth-best in the conference so far).
Freshman Leslie Jordan took third in the women’s shot put (42-8.25) and fellow freshman Chantel Bratton (41-6.5) was sixth.
Freshman Kartemus Heary gave the Demons fourth in the men’s javelin (168-11) as three-time All-American Cody Fillinich, fifth nationally in the event, took the weekend off.
Batts ran a season-best 47.54 in the 400-meter dash, finishing sixth and enhancing his No. 3 ranking in the SLC.
Courtney Herschberger was fifth in the women’s 2000-meter steeplechase (8:14.14) and Nathanial McReynolds took fifth in the men’s race (6:34.16).
Cralle, Courtney among Bearkat winners at Ty Terrell Relays
BEAUMONT, Texas ? Another school record performance by Chris Cralle in the hammer was the showcase performance for the Bearkat men in the Ty Terrell Relays this weekend.
Cralle threw 215 feet to win the hammer. His throw is the sixth best mark in NCAA Division I men’s track and field this spring. The mark ranks No. 2 in the NCAA Midwest Region.
Michael Courtney won the 400-meter dash with a time of 46.81. Jay Newman placed first in the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 52.82 seconds. Chris Nelson leaped 6’ 8” to win the high jump.
Three Bearkats finished as event runners-up with Matt Johnson (14’ 6”) in the pole vault, Chris Gilchrist (23’ 10”) in the long jump and John Thomas (14.42 seconds) in the 110-meter hurdles.
Matthew Johnson, Leon Banks, Clint Anders and Logan Miller teamed to place third in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:25.14.
Southeastern finishes tune-ups at Lamar, South Alabama
Heading into the weekend, the Southeastern Louisiana University men’s and women’s track and field teams had modest goals. The Lions and Lady Lions wanted to rest their elite performers following a grueling week of competition at the 2009 Texas Relays, leave their injured athletes at home to recuperate and allow the rest of the team to fine-tune their events in a competitive atmosphere. On Saturday, the Lions and Lady Lions met those goals at the 2009 Exxon Mobil Ty Tyrell Relays in Beaumont and at the 2009 South Alabama Invitational in Mobile.
With Lamar hosting the Ty Tyrell Relays without a hammer cage, the Lions and Lady Lions split up for the weekend with the throwers heading east to Mobile for the South Alabama Invitational and the rest of the crew heading to Lamar.
Southeastern would be without some of their top performers on this weekend. Some, such as junior decathlete Cory Roberts, took the week off after a grueling week of competition at the Texas Relays April 1-4. Meanwhile, some, such as jumpers Corey Billizone and Michael Rheams sat out competition while nursing nagging injuries.
However, the Lions still managed some impressive performances. Sophomore sprinter Shannon Grover and junior sprinter Rocky Caruth took first and second, respectively, in the 100m dash before Grover went on to post a time of 20.99 in the 200m dash to claim first and post an NCAA Mideast Regional Qualifying time.
In the 3,000m steeplechase, the Lion distance running trio of sophomores Henry Rop, Kalphys Kemboi and Nelphat Boit took the top three spots, in that order. Rop clocked in at 9:23.33 with Kemboi and Boit 3.43 and 27.22 seconds behind, respectively.
On the women’s side, freshman pole vaulter Lacey Sanchez turned in the most impressive outing, clearing 3.40m to claim first place.
Meanwhile, over in Mobile, the Southeastern throwers got to work at the South Alabama Invitational.
Junior thrower Kyle Francis led the way by claiming first in the discus with a toss of 47.59 m, while the women were led by true freshman Renada Living who placed fifth in the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 45.19m.
The Lions and Lady Lions will return to action when they head to Baton Rouge April 16-18 for the LSU Combined Events and Alumni Gold.
Stephen F. Austin claims six titles at Lamar
BEAUMONT, Texas ? The Stephen F. Austin men’s and women’s track and field team recorded six individual titles at the ExxonMobil Ty Terrill Relays Saturday in Beaumont, Texas. The Ladyjacks recorded five titles, while the ?Jacks brought home one.
Sophomore thrower Kaitlyn Andrews led the Ladyjacks by winning the shot put and discus events. The defending indoor conference shot put champion won the event Saturday with a throw of 13.75-meters. Andrews followed that up with a mark of 41.10-meters to win the discus. Junior Frednisha Marshall won the Ladyjacks third individual title of the throws events when she posted a mark of 57.10-meters to win the event. Marshall’s mark was good enough to set a new school record and qualify for the NCAA regional championships.
Sophomore Whitney Trimble cleared a height of 1.70-meters in the high jump to tie for the individual title in the event. She recorded the best jump of all collegiate athletes in the event. Two Ladyjacks tied for an individual title in the pole vault. Senior Kelsea David, and freshman Macy Wade cleared heights of 3.40-meters to finish in a three-way tie, along with Southeastern Louisiana’s Lacey Sachez, for first in the event.
Freshman Nick McCloud recorded the Lumberjacks’ lone individual title of the meet. McCloud clocked a time of 14.33 to win the 110m hurdles. He just missed an NCAA regional mark by three-hundredths of a second.
Marshall finished second in the shot put, just behind Andrews, with her throw of 13.65m, while freshmen Makayla Elliott and Caitlyn Gaston recorded third (38.28m) and fourth-place (36.89-meters) finishes in the discus. Gaston also recorded a third-place finish in the hammer throw with her mark of 44.48-meters.
The SFA men also had several athletes just miss an individual title in Beaumont. Freshman David McKenzie cleared a height of 4.45-meters to finish second overall in the pole vault, but was the highest-placed collegiate athlete in the event. Junior Josh Cruse was second in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 14.45-meters, while freshman Jon Arthur recorded a toss of 16.18-meters to finish second in the shot put. Sophomore Adam Wolfe was second overall in the javelin (54.49m), but recorded the best throw of all collegiate athletes. SFA’s 1,600 relay-meter relay team recorded a time of 3:23.36 to place second overall.
Walls, Vaughan lead UTA in Norman, qualify for NCAA Regional
NORMAN, Okla. ? Jasmine Walls and Jarid Vaughan led the way for the Mavs track teams Saturday at the 40th annual John Jacobs Invitational qualifying for the NCAA Midwest Regional Meet two individual events.
The Sooner state treated Walls especially well. The junior won the women’s 100-meter final with a personal best effort and qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional Meet posting a time of 11.59. The Pearland, Texas native also placed second in the 200-meters running a 23.47 in the final. Walls previously qualified for regionals in the 200-meters last month at the Horned Frog Invitational.
The Canadian born Vaughan matched his female teammate’s performance winning the men’s 200-meter final setting a personal best time of 20.47. That time is the quickest any UTA athlete has ran that event all year long. Vaughan has now punched his ticket for the regional event in the 100 and 200.
Sprinters Cordero Gray and Takeshi Fujiwara set their new fastest times in that final as well running a time of 20.75 and 21.40, respectfully.
Other Mavs athletes who set personal bests times include junior sprinter Antonia Hopkins set her season bests in the 200-meter running a 24.46. She improved her time more than three tenths of a second in the final on Saturday.
Senior Byron Majors turned in an impressive in the men’s 100-meter final setting his season best time of 10.66. That time was fast enough for fourth place and is the highest Majors has finished in the event all season long.
In the men’s 400-meter final, Takeshi Fujiwara finished in fourth place running his new fastest time in the event with a time of 47.70. Eddie Beckwith finished 14th in the same race and improved his best time in the event to 48.77.
Junior runner Darren Rous got in on the winning ways on Saturday as well running the fastest time in 800-meter final. Rous finished in 1:53.45 and set the new fastest time in that event for the season.
Distance runner Amanda McMahon ran her longest event of the outdoor season on Saturday and finished second in the women’s 5,000-meter final. Her time of 18:02.64 was only beat by Kristen Radcliff of Oral Roberts University.
The Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final was an all-Maverick contest with the only three competitors in the event all being from UTA. Heinz Schwarzkopf won the event and was followed in second place by teammate Garrett Yuen.
Another Maverick winner in Norman was Aundrea Williams in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. He ran the final in a personal best time of 52.56 and is only five one-hundredths of a second off the regional qualifying time.
For complete results of Saturday’s action go to soonersports.com.
UTA will be back in action this Thursday and Friday as the teams will head west to Walnut, California to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays.
Williams breaks 10-second barrier, Jones, James grab gold at UTEP
EL PASO, Texas ? UTSA junior Teddy Williams broke the magical 10-second barrier in winning the 100-meters to highlight action for the men’s track & field team on Saturday at the UTEP Invitational.
Williams blistered the Kidd Field track in 9.90 seconds to coast to top honors ahead of Alabama’s Ray Jadusingh (10.13) and UTEP’s Ronald Arajs (10.21). That performance was aided by a 7.8-meters/second wind but still ranks as the best under all conditions in school history and fastest in the world this season. The two-time All-American already held the school record with his previous personal-best 10.16 clocking that won the 2008 Southland Conference title and even though Saturday’s wind was above the legal limit for NCAA qualifying purposes, he has punched his Midwest Regional ticket with a 10.26 posted at the Texas Relays last week.
“I am very proud of how Teddy went out and competed today,” head coach Aaron Fox said. “For him to run under 10 seconds is an amazing accomplishment. Very few people in the world can say they ran the 100-meters in less than 10 second, and now he is a member of an elite group of world-class athletes. Even though he had a strong tailwind, it does not diminish what he did, and he now knows his body can handle running that fast.”
Williams, a Tyler native, also helped the 400 relay team run a season-best 40.68 in the first track event of the afternoon. He ran second leg along with sophomores Kevin Hunt, John Matthews and Emon Foundren, as the quartet finished fourth.
Freshman Michael Cook also found a place on top of the awards stand, winning the 800 with a 1:58.22 clocking, while freshman Brandon Chiuminetta was the top collegiate finisher (second overall) in the 2,000 steeplechase with a 6:37.66 effort. He was followed closely by junior Jake Orndorff in third place (7:03.51) and freshman Daniel Balbontin in fourth (7:15.64).
In the field, freshman Geulien Brisco skipped to a 47-0.25 (14.33m) measure in the triple jump to place second overall behind Shardae Boutte (16.27m) and first among collegians, while sophomore Vince Abron was fifth in the long jump with a 22-0.25 (6.71m) leap.
For the Roadrunners’ women’s team, Junior Jessica Jones won the 100-meter hurdles and sophomore Jayde James grabbed gold in 800 Saturday at Kidd field.
Jones sped to a season-best 13.94 to take top honors in the 110m hurdles ahead of New Mexico State’s Devin Brooks (14.04). That time was aided by a 4.0-meters/second wind and was a mere .02 seconds off the NCAA regional qualifying standard.
Jayde, a Leesburg, Va., native, circled the oval twice in 2:24.44 in a brutal wind to edge freshman teammate Rebecca Crain, who crossed in 2:25.80.
In the field, freshman Amber Byars ? UTSA’s No. 2 all-time performer ? inched closer to the school’s hammer throw record (Natasha Ramos, 142-7), heaving the implement out to a 139-6 measure for seventh place. Sophomore Taelor Wilson was close behind in ninth with a 134-4 effort.
Byars also posted a 139-3 mark to place fourth in the discus and move into the No. 4 position on the school’s all-time performers list.
Meanwhile, freshman Lindsay Nguyen topped 10-2 in her first outdoor pole vault of the season. That clearance was good for fourth place and made her the school’s No. 2 all-time performer behind Stephanie Henslee (11-0.25).
Sophomore Rebekah Hill took advantage of a strong wind, skipping out to a personal-best 39-0.25 measure to finish fourth overall and third among collegiate competitors in the triple jump.
Back on the track, the 400 relay team of senior Shanelle Slaughter, junior Jessica Jones and sophomore Kayla Thomas and Shavonne Armbrister passed the baton to a third-place time of 48.57 in their first race of the season. Freshman Courtney Nelson clocked an 8:08.08 to garner runner-up honors in the 2,000 steeplechase.
In other action, sophomore Aimee Jonas cleared 5-1 to place fourth overall and third among collegians in the high jump, while the 1,600 relay squad of Armbrister Thomas, Crain and freshman Celeste Smoote took third in 4:09.14.
The Roadrunners return to the track next Friday, April 17, when they travel to Austin to compete in the Texas Twilight.
Texas State track stars shine at Trinity Alumni Classic
Iris Darrington blows away the field on the track at the Trinity Alumni Classic hosted by Trinity University in San Antonio. Darrington came away with two-first place finishes and a season-best in the 200-meters. The Bobcats tallied a total of 14 first-place finishes.
Iris Darrington won the women’s 100-meters in a time of 11.83. Renee Shepard was second as she crossed the line in a time of 11.99 to break the 12-second barrier. Darrington also captured the women’s 200-meters giving her two gold medals and a season-best time in the 200 of 24.48. Shepard was fourth in the 200-meters with a time of 25.72.
Lindsey Maxwell grabbed second in the women’s 400-meters sprinting to a time of 59.37. Kannesha Skinner was fourth with a time of 1:00.55.
In the women’s 800-meters the Bobcats went 1-2-3-4 with Ryann Bradford leading the way with a first place time of 2:22.41. Natoria Edwards had a time of 2:24.82 for second, followed by Karrisa Reiter and Heather Bullin in 2:25.78 and 2:28.57.
Steffanie Armstrong won the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:51.33 for her fastest time so far this season. Bullin was second in a time of 4:52.27.
Whitney Perkins and Amanda McKinney took fourth and fifth in the 5,000-meters with times of 19:09.36 and 19:22.49.
Katie Miller won the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:05.58. Kristina Viniar was second in 1:07.80.
Brooke Hewitt won the high jump with a height of 3.55m. Jennifer Matthews took second in the pole vault with a leap of 3.51m.
Sara Olayiwola won both the long jump and triple jump to bring home two top finishes. In the long she leaped to a mark of 5.52m and had a distance of 11.88m in the triple.
Kayla Smith won the shot put with a mark of 12.45, while Katie Hanie won the discus with a toss of 47.27, just missing the NCAA Regional qualifying standard by .03. Taylor Hubbard won the javelin with a throw of 32.41.
Kevin Aje raced to a second place finish in the men’s 100 with a time of 10.84. Brandon Thomas grabbed third with a time of 10.85.
Thomas raced to a season-best in the 200 where he ran away from the field in a time of 21.62 to take home first place honors. Stefon Hargrove was third in a time of 22.11.
Justin Longoria was second in the men’s 400 with a time of 49.46. Steve Farris took fifth with a time of 51.06.
In the men’s 800-meter run Eric Sheppard crossed the line in 1:54.24 for third place. Michael Webley was fifth with a time of 1:55.51.
In the men’s 5,000-meters Jonathan Hernandez grabbed third in a time of 15:38.58. Michael Richards was fourth in a time of 15:39.19, while Michael Morris rounded out the top five in a time of 15:39.45.
Clay Holland won the men’s 110 hurdles in a season-best time of 14.56. He also placed second in the 400-meter hurdles in another season-best time of 53.76.
Ikenna Obonna won the triple jump with an NCAA Regional mark of 15.20m and took second in the long jump with a distance of 6.60m.