Sam Houston State Men, SFA Women Take 2019 Southland Championships
FINAL RESULTS | LIVE SCORING | HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY
NATCHITOCHES, La. – The 2019 Southland Conference Championships concluded with 26 finals events Sunday, May 3 at Walter P. Ledet Track Complex in Natchitoches, La. The Sam Houston State men's program completed their third consecutive conference championship run, while the Stephen F. Austin women's team captured its ninth Southland title in program history.
Chris Jefferson sealed a monumental day for the Bearkats with 23.75 points to become the 2019 men's Most Valuable Performer. Jefferson nabbed two of the Sam Houston State's five gold-medal finishes on day three with top honors in the 100 and 200-meter races. The Bearkats concluded the weekend with 164 points in the final team standings. Abilene Christian received runners-up honors after scoring 104 points throughout the meet.
The men's standings were rounded out by Stephen F. Austin, who completed the weekend in third place with 91 points, while host school Northwestern State posted 79 points for fourth-place honors. Incarnate Word (73.5) finished in fifth place, followed by sixth-place Lamar (70) and seventh-place Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (56.5). McNeese (46), Houston Baptist (43), New Orleans (31) finished eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively. Central Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana tied for 11th place, each scoring 29 points.
Stephen F. Austin conquered the women's championships, logging 195.5 points to mark the second most team points scored in Southland Conference history. The Ladyjacks recorded points in 18 events, while claiming five gold medals over the course of the weekend. Incarnate Word closed out their stay in second place with 120 points, followed by Northwestern State with 107.5 points. Abilene Christian finished next with 104.5 points for fourth place, while McNeese grabbed fifth-place honors with 55 points. Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tied for sixth place at 47 points, followed by Central Arkansas (40), Lamar (34), Southeastern Louisiana (29), Houston Baptist (17), New Orleans (14) and Nicholls (9).
Abilene Christian's Kayla Melgar put on a performance for the ages over the three-day championship, registering 26 points to earn the 2019 women's Most Valuable Performer award. Melgar claimed a gold medal in the shot put as well as a pair of silver medals in the hammer throw and discus events.
Top three finishers in each event final are automatically named All-Southland Conference. The teams will be formally announced along with individual superlative winners onTuesday, May 14.
Athletes who achieve
qualifying marks, or have done so this season, will qualify for the Preliminary Round of the
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships which will take place May 23-25 in Jacksonville, Fla. for the East Region and Sacramento, Calif. for the West Region. The 2019 NCAA National Championships are set to be hosted at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, June 5-8.
Men's High Point Scorer – Chris Jefferson, Sam Houston State (23.75)
Women's High Point Scorer – Kayla Melgar (26)
Final Team Standings
| Men |
Points |
Women |
Points |
| 1. Sam Houston State |
164.0 |
1. Stephen F. Austin |
195.5 |
| 2. Abilene Christian |
104.0 |
2. Incarnate Word |
120.0 |
| 3. Stephen F. Austin |
91.0 |
3. Northwestern State |
107.5 |
| 4. Northwestern State |
79.0 |
4. Abilene Christian |
104.0 |
| 5. Incarnate Word |
73.5 |
5. McNeese |
55.0 |
| 6. Lamar |
70.0 |
T6. Sam Houston State |
47.0 |
| 7. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
56.5 |
T6. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
47.0 |
| 8. McNeese |
46.0 |
8. Central Arkansas |
40.0 |
| 9. Houston Baptist |
43.0 |
9. Lamar |
34.0 |
| 10. New Orleans |
31.0 |
10. Southeastern Louisiana |
29.0 |
| T11. Central Arkansas |
29.0 |
11. Houston Baptist |
17.0 |
| T11. Southeastern Louisiana |
29.0 |
12. New Orleans |
14.0 |
|
|
13. Nicholls |
9.0 |
Day Three Champions
| Event |
Name |
School |
Distance/Time/Points |
| Men's Javelin |
Cord Neal |
Stephen F. Austin |
202-11/61.86m |
| Women's Discus |
Annina Brandenburg |
Abilene Christian |
174-06/53.20m |
| Men's High Jump |
Tyler Adams |
Sam Houston State |
6-09.50 / 2.07m |
| Men's Pole Vault |
Branson Ellis Schmidt |
Stephen F. Austin |
17-10.5 / 5.45m |
| Men's Discus |
Aaron Akens |
Sam Houston State |
187-04.0 / 57.10m |
| Women's High Jump |
Sashane Hanson |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
5-09.75 / 1.77m |
| Women's 4x100m Relay |
-- |
Stephen F. Austin |
45.06 |
| Men's 4x100m Relay |
-- |
Sam Houston State |
39.62 |
| Women's 1500m |
Kelsey Ramirez |
Stephen F. Austin |
4:34.46 |
| Men's 1500m |
Garett Cortez |
Incarnate Word |
3:52.31 |
| Women's 100m Hurdles |
Jerica Love |
Incarnate Word |
13.80 |
| Men's 110m Hurdles |
Tremayne Flagler |
Northwestern State |
14.03 |
| Women's 400m |
Natashia Jackson |
Northwestern State |
53.49 |
| Men's 400m |
Jared Williams |
Abilene Christian |
46.70 |
| Women's 100m |
Deja Keys |
Incarnate Word |
11.86 |
| Men's 100m |
Chris Jefferson |
Sam Houston State |
10.20 |
| Women's 800m |
Dominique Allen |
Incarnate Word |
2:09.13 |
| Men's 800m |
Drake Murphy |
Stephen F. Austin |
1:49.67 |
| Women's 400m Hurdles |
Dominique Jackson |
Stephen F. Austin |
59.86 |
| Men's 400m Hurdles |
Garrett Gibson |
Houston Baptist |
52.11 |
| Women's 200m |
Natashia Jackson |
Northwestern State |
23.55 |
| Men's 200m |
Chris Jefferson |
Sam Houston State |
20.48 |
| Women's 5,000m |
Gracie Hyde |
Central Arkansas |
17:50.89 |
| Men's 5,000m |
Jamie Crowe |
Lamar |
14:39.85 |
| Women's 4x400m Relay |
-- |
Stephen F. Austin* |
3:39.12 |
| Men's 4x400m Relay |
-- |
Abilene Christian |
3:09.22 |