Tipton?s Discus Title Leads Strong Southland Showing at NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Regionals
FRISCO, Texas ? Sam Houston State senior Jon Tipton won gold in the discus Friday at the NCAA Midwest Regional Outdoor Track and Field meet and was one of 11 Southland Conference athletes to earn automatic qualification into the National Championships during the Midwest and Mideast Regional competitions this weekend.
Of the league’s 11 automatic qualifiers, eight came via the Midwest Regional in Norman, Okla., with three coming from the Mideast Regional in Louisville, Kent. Sam Houston State will send a league-best four to the national meet in Fayetteville, Ark., which runs from June 10-13. UT Arlington boasts a pair of qualifiers while Lamar, Nicholls State, Northwestern State Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State each had one. The league’s Texas-based schools competed in Norman while the Louisiana-based programs took part in the Mideast Regional.
The top-five finishers from each individual event and top-three from each relay event at each of the four regional sites earn automatic qualification into the national championships. Numerous other Southland athletes remain eligible for at large berths into the national championships by virtue of previous performances during the 2009 outdoor season. The list of at-large qualifiers will be posted when it becomes available.
Tipton will not have to wait for the at large lists to be made available after he took care of business at Oklahoma. The senior became the third Bearkat in history to win regional gold when he posted a Midwest-best mark of 192-feet, 3-inches (58.60 meters). The throw, his first of the competition, bested the next closest competitor by more than six feet. Two of Sam Houston State’s three other automatic qualifiers also punched their tickets via field events. Junior Chris Cralle finished fifth in the men’s hammer throw with a mark of 203-7 (62.05m) while sophomore Dess Meek, the women’s team’s lone national qualifier, placed fourth in the high jump after surpassing a height of 5-10 (1.78m). Senior Lane Dennis netted the conference’s second-best regional finish when he took second in the 400 hurdles with a time of 50.37, just more than a half-second off the lead pace.
Sam Houston State also turned in the best team finish among Southland members when the men’s team tied for ninth place with 25 points. Also scoring for the Bearkats on the weekend was Michael Courtney, who remains eligible for nationals after placing sixth in the 400 with a time of 46.25.
Sophomore sprinter Cordero Gray headlined UT Arlington’s regional performance with a third-place result in the men’s 100. Seeded fifth heading into Saturday’s final, Gray maintained his preliminary time of 10.26 to claim the bronze. Freshman Andrew Duncan III was the Mavericks’ other qualifier. He guaranteed UT Arlington a spot in the national championships when he took fifth in Friday’s high jump. His best jump surpassed a height of 6-10.25 (2.09m).
"Cordero had an outstanding week we are really excited because he's only a sophomore," UT Arlington head coach John Sauerhage said. "It was a good day for the Mavericks."
Also contributing to the Mavericks’ 14th-place finish in the men’s competition were Isiah Clements, who finished a spot behind Duncan III in the high jump, and the 400 and 1,600 relay teams, which placed seventh and eighth, respectively. Junior Jarid Vaughan, among the favorites in both the 100 and 200, failed to qualify for the 100 finals and was scratched from the 200 event with an injury.
Led by junior Jasmine Walls, UT Arlington’s women’s team put itself in position for an at-large bid with strong showing in the 400 relay, where it took sixth with a time of 45.65.
Lamar qualified 50 percent of its regional entrants to the national meet. One of two Cardinal qualifiers, junior Samuel Kosgei was among the top qualifiers in the men’s 5,000 and finished just more than two seconds shy of a regional title. The Cardinals’ distance specialist took fourth overall when he crossed the tape in 14:04.79. Minnesota’s Hassan Mead placed first in the event with a time of 14:02.25.
The Southland Conference’s final automatic qualifier was senior Kemuel Morales. While the Bobcats were hopeful of sending multiple athletes to Fayetteville, only Morales guaranteed himself a spot when he took bronze in the shot put. The senior’s season-best mark of 59-9.75 (18.23m) was 0.72 meters behind Harrison Benjamin’s gold-winning mark for Texas Tech. Junior Valerie Hancock turned in the best performance for the women’s team when she took sixth in the high jump with a mark of 5-8.50 (1.74m).
In Louisville at the Mideast Regional, junior Leslie Bourgeois became the first Nicholls State athlete in school history to qualify for the national championships. The Colonel’s star and Southland Conference champion in the event, who was appearing in her third outdoor regional in as many seasons, took fourth in the women’s javelin with a season-best throw of 158-08 (48.36m).
"She worked really hard to prepare for the event and she went out and performed great against strong competition," Colonels’ head coach Scott Williamson said. "I am really proud of her achievement, and I think she will do well in the NCAA Championships."
Northwestern State senior Cody Fillinich turned in the league’s top overall performance in Louisville when he claimed silver in the javelin throw. Fillinich had four of the meet’s top marks in the event, including his second-place throw of 231-00 (70.42m), but he could not quite over come Wisconsin’s Robert Dehn and his meet-winning throw of 231-10 (70.66m).
"Cody had the nail on his big toe on his plant foot pulled off Tuesday, and I'd have to guess he's still a little touchy there," Demons’ head coach Leon Johnson said, "but he was by far the most consistent thrower and threw at a high level overall today. We're excited about his chance to make history in two weeks."
Fillinich can become the first four-time outdoor All-American in Northwestern State history with a top finish at the national meet. Junior Mike Hill finished seventh in the men’s 110 hurdles while fellow junior Michael Green also took seventh in the 400. Northwestern State’s men’s team finished 17th in the team standings with 13 points.
Also qualifying for nationals was Southeastern Louisiana junior Adonson Shallow. After a disappointing result in the hammer throw, where he scratched on all three attempts for the second-consecutive meet, Shallow regrouped to earn a national berth in the discus. Seeded fifth, he jumped up a spot and placed fourth with a mark of 193-01 (58.86m).
For complete results from the NCAA Mideast Regional, click here.
For complete results from the NCAA Midwest Regional, click here.
NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships ? Automatic Qualifiers
|
Name |
Class |
School |
Event |
Regional Finish |
|
Samuel Kosgei |
Jr. |
Lamar |
Men’s 5,000 |
4th |
|
Leslie Bourgeois |
Jr. |
Nicholls State |
Women’s Javelin |
4th |
|
Cody Fillinich |
Sr. |
Northwestern State |
Men’s Javelin |
2nd |
|
Chris Cralle |
Jr. |
Sam Houston State |
Men’s Hammer Throw |
5th |
|
Lane Dennis |
Sr. |
Sam Houston State |
Men’s 400 Hurdles |
2nd |
|
Dess Meek |
So. |
Sam Houston State |
Women’s High Jump |
4th |
|
Jon Tipton |
Sr. |
Sam Houston State |
Men’s Discus |
1st |
|
Adonson Shallow |
Jr. |
Southeastern La. |
Men’s Discus |
4th |
|
Andrew Duncan, III |
Fr. |
UT Arlington |
Men’s High Jump |
5th |
|
Cordero Gray |
So. |
UT Arlington |
Men’s 100 |
3rd |
|
Kemuel Morales |
Sr. |
Texas State |
Men’s Shot Put |
3rd |