Track and Field Squads Warm Up for Sun Belt Championship
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NEW ORLEANS – All 11 Sun Belt Schools were in action this past weekend as track and field squads readied themselves for the Sun Belt Indoor Track and Field Championship.
Eight of the 11 schools sent competitors to the Samford Invitational this past weekend. South Alabama claimed four first place finishes as junior Christoph Graf (mile) and freshman Rafael Scott (60m) each won the race with career best marks. Graf finished in 4:06.14 while Scott clocked a 6.80 time, both marks qualify as the fourth best in South Alabama history. The Jaguars added a women’s shot put title from sophomore LaMia Miller and a triple jump win from sophomore Kaitlyn Beans.
Georgia State split their squad this weekend as four Panthers placed in the top five at the Samford Invitational. Sun Belt Female Field Athlete of the Week LaPorscha Wells won the women’s weight throw and took second in the shot put. The sophomore’s weight throw of 19.32m broke the school record of 18.75. Seniors Hannah Steffanoff and Niamh Kearney ran in the SPIRE Invitational in Geneva, Ohio. Kearney ran the team’s second fastest mile of the season.
Arkansas State sent competitors all across the country. Sophomore Roelf Pienaar tied his own long jump record at the Don Kirby Elite while senior Ricahrd Chavez took first place in the shot put. The Don Kirby Elite was held in Albuquerque, N.M. and hosted by New Mexico. Sun Belt Female Track Athlete of the Week Rexi Parcells travelled to the Husky Invitational in Seattle, Wash. Parcells, a senior, clocked the second best 5000m time in Arkansas State history with a mark of 17:09.69. The rest of the team headed to Birmingham, Ala. for the Samford Invitational which saw the Red Wolves bring home seven top 10 finishes.
UL Lafayette’s senior Devin Davis claimed the men’s long jump title at the Samford Invitational with a mark of 24 feet and 4 ½ inches. That distance was the third best mark in the Sun Belt and the 15th best mark in the country this season. UL Monroe saw 19 different competitors set a personal record or season best. Freshman Jamel Parharm Jr. and junior Corey Wesley tied for third in the long jump while Parharm also had a top-10 triple jump finish. Junior Andrew Tate and junior Mark Demus took third and fourth in the men’s 400m race.
Freshman Jack Bruce came in fourth in the men’s mile for UALR while senior Emma Dahl finished second in the women’s mile to lead the Trojans. Junior Patrick Quinn took second place in the pole vault while sophomore Nathan Milch claimed third in the shot put for Appalachian State. Troy senior Bob Martin took third in the 60m dash with a time of 6.85 seconds.
UT Arlington traveled to Kansas for the Wichita State Herm Wilson Invitational. Senior Quentin Butler won the 60m dash with a time of 6.64 which was the 14th fastest time in the NCAA this year. Butler was named Sun Belt Male Track Athlete of the Week. Senior Emil Blomberg broke a school record in the mile with a time of 4:05.82.
Texas State was led by senior thrower Darian Brown who broke two school records at the Houston Invitational. Brown, the Sun Belt Male Field Athlete of the Week, had a 19.53m toss in the shot put to bring him to the ninth best time in the country. He also set a meet record in both the shot put and weight throw which traveled 20.85m. Sophomore Marika Brown, sophomore Machala Wesley, and senior Alexus Hebert claimed the top three spots in the 60m race for the Bobcats.
Georgia Southern competed at the High Point Team Challenge on Thursday. Senior Kimberly Thomas led the way with an eighth place finish in the 200m dash with a time of 26.39.
Appalachian State will host the Appalachian State Open on Friday, before all eleven teams travel to Birmingham, Ala. for the 2015 Sun Belt Indoor Championship. The championship meet will be held at the Birmingham Crossplex, site of the Samford Invitational, on February 23 and 24.
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Weekly News and Notes
Schedule
Championship Information
Top Times Report
MALE TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Quentin Butler, UT Arlington, Senior, Corpus Christi, Texas
UTA’s Quentin Butler won the 60 meters at the Herm Wilson Invitational with a clocking of 6.64, which ties for the 14th-fastest time in the NCAA this year. It is the second-best clocking in school history, behind only a national-best 6.55 by teammate Clayton Vaughn in 2014. Butler won the race by .17 and has the Sun Belt Conference’s fastest time by .10. He is currently in a position (top 16) to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships for the first time in his career.
FEMALE TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Rexi Parcells, Arkansas State, Senior, Plano, Texas
One week after setting the program record in the mile run, Rexi Parcells posted the second-fasted 5000-meter time in A-State history. Parcells clocked a time of 17:09.69 at the Husky Invitational and with her time she ranks tops among Sun Belt Conference foes by over four seconds.
MALE FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Darian Brown, Texas State, Senior, Killeen, Texas
Darian Brown continues to make an impact in throws, doing so in both events: shot put and weight throw. He dominated the Houston Tune-Up Invitational, throwing for Texas State school records in both events. His 19.53-meter (64-1) throw in shot put vaults him into the top 10 in the nation, almost assured a spot in the NCAA Championships. It’s a new personal record for him in both outdoor and indoor, beating his previous by 2-feet-6-inches. It was also a meet record. In weight throw, he threw for 20.85 meters (68-5) to beat his previous best by 5.5 inches and now ranks 24th nationally in the event and first in the Sun Belt Conference.
FEMALE FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
LaPorscha Wells, Georgia State, sophomore, Augusta, Ga. (Josey HS)
Wells had the longest weight throw of the season in the Sun Belt with a 19.32m throw (63- 4 ¾) that was a Georgia State school record. In addition to her first-place, she had a second-place finish in the shot put with a 49-7 ¾ toss.
Recent Results
February 12
High Point Challenge – High Point, N.C. – Georgia Southern
February 13-14
Samford Invitational – Birmingham, Ala. - Appalachian State, UALR, Arkansas State, Georgia State, UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, South Alabama, Troy
Don Kirby Elite - Albuquerque, N.M. - Arkansas State
February 14
Wichita State Herm Wilson Invitational – Wichita, Kan. – UT Arlington
Houston Invitational – Houston, Texas – Texas State
Husky Invitational - Seattle, Wash. - Arkansa State
SPIRE Invitational - Geneva, Ohio - Georgia State
Upcoming Schedule
February 20
Appalachian State Open – Boone, N.C. – Appalachian State
February 23-24
Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championship – Birmingham, Ala. – All Teams
Weekly News and Notes
APPALACHIAN STATE
Appalachian State competed at the Samford Invitational on Saturday. Patrick Quinn finished second place in the pole vault be clearing 15-5.00 feet. In the throwing events, Nathan Milch took third in the shot put with a throw of 52-10.75 feet. Ryan Hastings finished in fifth in the 800 meter run with a personal-best time of 1:54.19. In the 3,000 meter run, Kyle McFoy finished in sixth with a season-best time of 8:29.64. The Mountaineer women were led over the weekend by Brianna Tate. The senior thrower took fourth in the shot put with a throw of 48-4.75, while placing ninth in the weight throw with a distance of 54-8.25 feet. Hana Ratcliffe ran a personal-best time in the mile, crossing the finish line in a time of 5:02.87. For her efforts, Ratcliffe placed seventh. The time for Ratcliffe also puts her ninth all-time in program history. The Mountaineers will return to action next weekend when they host the App State Open, before heading to the Sun Belt Championship.
UALR
UALR competed at the Samford Invitational this weekend. Jack Bruce continued to impress for the Trojans as he was the team’s top male finisher. Bruce ran the mile and came in fourth place, finishing in 4:16.71. That time is now the fifth-best all-time at UALR. Emma Dahl was UALR’s top individual finisher over the weekend, running in the mile and placing second in 4:55.35. That time was a new personal best indoors for Dahl, and her time is now the third-best in school history.
ARKANSAS STATE
Arkansas State wrapped up the pre-Sun Belt Conference Championship indoor schedule with competition at the Don Kirby Elite, Samford Invitational and Husky Invitational. A day after Roelf Pienaar tied his long jump record at the Don Kirby Elite, Richard Chavez took first place in the men’s shot put competition. Chavez posted a mark of 19.43m to take first place honors. At the Samford Invitational, the Red Wolves had 20 student-athletes compete bringing home seven top-10 finishes and four new personal-bests. William Oliver had the top finish, finishing fourth in the pole vault as he cleared 4.55m (14-11.00). The Red Wolves had success in the women’s distance events with two top-10 performances all-time. Bailey Eller finished ninth in the 3000-meter run, finishing sixth all-time with a time of 10:16.80. Tilde Helgesson crossed the finish line in 5:05.95 to finish 10th in the mile run, a time that ranks fourth all-time at A-State. Arnica Ziting just missed out on a top-10 finish in the 3000-meter run, but she set a personal-best by clocking a 10:23.54 11th place finish. Two student-athletes competed at the Husky Invitational at the University of Washington. After posting the program record in the mile run last week, Rexi Parcells clocked the second-best 5000-meter run time in A-State history, crossing the finish line in 17:09.69 to finish 51st. Abbey Dixon improved upon her personal-best and fifth all-time record with a time of 17:55.23 in the same event. A-State returns to the Birmingham CrossPlex for the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships that begins Monday, Feb. 23.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Kimberly Thomas placed 8th in the 200m dash as the Eagles completed the High Point Panthers Team Challenge. Thomas posted a season best with a 26.39 mark. Bailey Willett led the way for the Eagles in the 800m run with a time of 2:24.31, and Leigha Long finished with a new season best in the event (2:28.41). The Eagles will return to indoor action Feb. 23-24 at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala.
GEORGIA STATE
In a two-day event at the Samford Open in Birmingham, Ala., four Panthers placed in the top five and eight placed in the top 10…Ravin Gilbert placed third in the 60m dash with a 7.62 second time, with Wande Brewer coming in seventh. Stella Christoforou recorded a 2:14.60 800m dash to place sixth overall….In Ohio, Niamh Kearney ran GSU’s second-fast mile of the year (5:01.31) in addition to Stefanoff’s 9:50.61 in the 3,000 meters. Georgia State has nine top-five performances on the Sun Belt indoor bests…Wells has the best weight throw and 2nd-best shot…Stefanoff has the second-fastest 3,000m clocking…Allyson Goff has the third-fastest 60m hurdle time…Tracy Dorcemont has the fourth-best weight throw…Alysiah Whittaker has the fifth-best shot put…Sprinter Ravin Gilbert has the fifth-fastest 60m time and sixth-fastest 200m time…Stella Christoforou has posted the fifth-fastest 800m clocking…The Panther 4x400 relay squad is fourth-fastest….A trio of GSU milers have run the sixth, seventh and eighth-fastest times of the indoor season. The two-day Sun Belt Championships take place Feb. 23-24 in Birmingham, Ala. at the CrossPlex.
UL LAFAYETTE
Devin Davis recorded a mark of 24 feet, 4 ½ inches to claim the men’s long jump title and help lead the Ragin’ Cajuns at the Samford Invitational. Davis, ranked third overall in the Sun Belt Conference and 15th nationally in the event, recorded the Ragin’ Cajuns lone first-place performance in the meet. Hanoj Carter earned a pair of top-three finishes for the Ragin’ Cajuns after finishing second overall in the 200-meter dash (21.58) and third in the 60-meter dash (6.84) while Matthew Rice posted the third-fastest time by a Sun Belt Conference runner in the 1-mile run (4:10.45). In field events, William LeBlanc posted the second-best jump in the Sun Belt Conference in the high jump after clearing the bar at 6-10 ¾. Teammate Dionte Heath, ranked third overall among Sun Belt Conference athletes, finished sixth in the event at 6-4 ¾. On the women’s side, Kelci Lyons posted the fastest time by a Sun Belt Conference athlete in the 800-meters (2:12.27) after finishing second overall. Ashley Irwin earned a fifth-place finish in the 3,000-meter run (10:05.45). In the women’s shot put, Tamela Young (46-10 ¼) and Jana Jones (46-2) posted two of the top-10 marks in the Sun Belt Conference this season with Meredith Driskell finishing fourth overall in the pole vault (11-11 ¾). UL Lafayette will return to action on Feb. 23-24 when it competes in the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham Crossplex.
UL MONROE
19 different ULM student-athletes set either a personal-record or season-best on Saturday to end the regular season at the Samford Invitational. Jamel Parharm Jr. Corey Wesley tied for third in the long jump with a mark of 7.17m. Parharm Jr. also posted a top-10 finish in the triple jump with a score of 14.30m while Wesley was top-15 at 13.78m. ULM saw three sprinters finish top-10 and two top-5 in the men’s 400m. Junior Andrew Tate crossed the line at 48.62 to finish third as he edged junior Mark Demus at 48.71 who took fourth. Adriunna Brown took third in the triple jump with a personal-record of 11.16m. She also placed top-10 with a season-best of 5.61m in the long jump. Sophomore thrower Alexis Gordon shattered her personal-best in the women’s weight throw. Her sixth-place toss of 17.27m crushed her previous best of 16.11m. Gordon also tossed a season-best of 12.66m in the women’s shot put to take 12th. In the men’s weight throw, sophomore Alton Clay Jr. reached the finals and finished sixth after a toss of 16.10m. In men’s distance running, senior Hillary Kirwa took third in the mile with a season-best time of 4:16.55. Kirwa also turned in a seventh-place time of 8:35.20 in the 3000m, a season-best. ULM returns to Birmingham, Ala. for the The Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 23-24.
SOUTH ALABAMA
South Alabama claimed four first-place finishes Friday at the Samford Invitational held at the Birmingham Crossplex. Christoph Graf and Rafael Scott earned first in the mile run and 60-meter dash, respectively, with each posting career-best marks. Graf recorded a time of 4:06.14, shaving 9.32 seconds off his previous best set at the UAB Vulcan Invite on Jan. 23. Scott clocked a time of 6.80 seconds, .05 seconds faster than his previous best. Both move to fourth on the school’s all-time performance list in their events. Graf’s time not only provided his second victory in the event this season, it set a Swiss under-23 national indoor record. LaMia Miller finished first in the women’s shot put, recording a career-best distance of 14.65m — her previous record was 14.26m — to move into second on the school’s all-time performance list in the event. The Jaguars had an additional five individuals with top-five finishes in their events. Both the men’s team placed eighth overall scoring 45 points while the women’s squad was ninth after collecting 29 points. Ravaughn Pope placed second in the 60-meter hurdles for the second meet in a row with a time of 8.21, .13 seconds behind the leader. Laura Labuschaigne placed fifth in the women’s mile run with a time of 4:57.64, 2.68 seconds faster than her previous best. The mark moves her to fourth on the school’s all-time performance list in the event. The Jaguars will be back in action at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championship on Feb. 23-24.
UT ARLINGTON
Quentin Butler highlighted the day by winning the 60 meters at Wichita State’s Herm Wilson Invitational with a clocking of 6.64, which ties for the 14th-fastest time in the NCAA this year. In addition, it is the second-best time in school history, behind only a national-best 6.55 by teammate Clayton Vaughn in 2014. Butler won the race by .17 and now has a chance to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Emil Blomberg, who was invited to compete individually at the prestigious Iowa State Classic, broke a 29-year-old school record in the mile with a time of 4:05.82. For the women, Noemie Forget cleared 12’ 11 3/4” in the pole vault, trumping the old UTA record by more than two inches. Forget earned a second-place finish by bettering her personal best by half a foot. In addition, Ambria Tisdell topped her own school record in the weight throw with a mark of 56 feet. Tisdell, in her first season at UTA, placed second in the event. Also in the women’s field events, freshman Chineme Obikudu was victorious in the triple jump with a mark of 39’ 9 1/2”, the fifth-longest jump in school history. Meanwhile, Tricia Williams finished second in the shot put thanks to the fourth-best mark in school history (45’ 9 ¾). In addition to the record-setting performances, four other Mavericks won their respective events on Saturday. For the men, Craig Lautenslager won the mile (4:19.96), Omar Barnes claimed the triple jump (43’ 7”) and Heath Skelton was the top collegian in the shot put (54’ 1/2”). On the women’s side, Tamerah Gorham won the women’s 800 meters with a clocking of 2:13.43. Both teams placed second at the meet behind host school Wichita State. The Mavericks will next compete in the Sun Belt Conference Championships Feb. 23-24 in Birmingham, Ala.
TEXAS STATE
Senior thrower Darian Brown broke both of his own Texas State school records in the shot put and weight throw Friday at the Houston Invitational. Brown threw for 19.53 meters (64-1) in shot put to vault into the top 10 in the nation. Currently sitting ninth nationally and almost assured a spot in the NCAA Championships, Brown’s throw sets a new personal record for him in both outdoor and indoor and is a new Texas State record, beating his previous by 2-feet-6-inches. He also set the meet record. Brown broke his own school record and the meet record with a weight throw of 20.85 meters (68-5) to beat his previous best by 5.5 inches. He is now 24th nationally in weight throw. In women’s throws, Julie Lange also had a good day. She set a new personal record in the weight throw with a toss of 17.43 meters (57-2.25) to finish third at the meet and won the shot put with a meet record throw of 14.97 meters (49-1.5). Elsewhere, the women dominated the 60-meter dash. Marika Brown, Macahla Wesley and Alexus Hebert swept the 60-meter dash finals, all tying their season best times in the event. Also on the track, Sydni Willis took first at the meet with a 56.62 performance in the 400-meter dash. De’Marcus Porter set a new personal record with a time of 6.84 to take first at the meet. With the time, he is currently sixth in the Conference. Texas State’s next action will be at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on Feb. 23-24.
TROY
Troy’s squad competed at the Samford Invitational this weekend. Ben Martin placed third in the 60m dash with a time of 6.85 seconds, a new personal record. In the women’s 400-meter dash freshman Niata Alexander set a new personal record of 55.94 seconds, coming in 4th place. Alexander is currently second in the Sun Belt standings in the event. Myles Charley competed in the men’s triple jump for the Trojans, finishing in third place with a 14.80-meter jump. Troy’s men 4x400-meter relay team picked up a third place finish on Saturday. The team of Chaun Lynn, Martin, Tyrell Moore, and Cameron Rice finished in 3:19.56. The Trojans will head to the Sun Belt Indoor Championship on February 23rd and 24th at the Birmingham CrossPlex.