SFA Track & Field Prepares for SLC Meet
2/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Feb. 19, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin men's and women's track and field team will be in Houston, Texas, Friday and Saturday competing at the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. The two-day meet will take place at the Bill Yeoman Fieldhouse on the University of Houston Campus.
SFA enters the meet after a strong 2009 indoor campaign that saw them record several individual titles, set numerous school records, and watch junior Frednisha Marshall once again dominate in the weight throw. The 2009 NCAA provisional qualifier will once again be among the favorites in the event. She is currently one of seven SLC athletes to record an NCAA mark during the '09 indoor season.
Along with Marshall, SFA also returns junior Matt Langdon who dominated the men's weight throw last year. Both athletes are the reigning SLC Indoor Outstanding Field Athletes.
Other Lumberjack athletes who will be among the favorites in their events are freshman Nick McCloud, sophomore Dennis Yeats, junior Josh Cruse, junior Chris Jones and the 4X400-meter relay team.
McCloud has been one of the surprises of the season, having an immediate impact during his rookie season. McCloud has currently turned in the third fastest time in the 200-meter dash, and has the second-best time in the 60-meter hurdles. McCloud could also figure into the scoring in the long jump. More of a long shot in the event, McCloud enters the meet with the league's 11th best jump.
Sophomore Dennis Yeats leads a talented SFA distance squad in the 2009 championship meet. Yeats has posted the league's third-fastest time in the 5,000 meters with a mark of 14:59.74.
Cruse has battled back from an injury-shortened sophomore season, and could be on the verge of another individual title in the triple jump. He is currently third overall in the event.
Classmate Chris Jones continues to be a factor in the multis. After a sophomore season that saw him record an NCAA provisional mark in the decathlon Jones is on the verge of a conference individual title. He enters the championship meet with a season-best score of 5,000, which is only 25 points off leader Cory Roberts from Southeastern Louisiana.
The Ladyjacks will once again be led by Marshall who should figure into the mix in both the weight throw and the shot put. Marshall's toughest competition in the shot put may come from teammate Kaitlyn Andrews who has recorded the best mark in the league this year.
Sophomore Arteria Sterns could be a factor in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dash. Considered more of a threat in the 60 meters, Sterns currently holds the second-best mark in the league this year, only two-hundredths of a second off Texas-Arlington's Jasmine Walls.
The Ladyjacks are expecting big points from the women's 3,000-meter run. SFA freshmen Stephanie Ganter and Brittainy Robertson have recorded the two fastest times in the event this season.
Junior Silent-Joye Egboba-Waye is a title hopeful in the 60-meter hurdles. She has posted the league's top time in the event, and is one of two Ladyjacks who should score. Egboba-Waye also leads a trio of young Ladyjacks in the long jump. Egboba-Waye has recorded the league's second-best mark in the event this season, and is one of three SFA athletes currently in the league's top eight.
The Ladyjacks 4X400-meter relay team, which posted a school record time at the Texas A&M Invite last week, could be also be a threat for an individual title. Under the direction of first-year sprints coach Sean Lonergan, the Ladyjacks' relay team enters the meet with the league's third fastest time.
The Ladyjacks' best event could be the pentathlon. SFA enters the meet with three very capable athletes in junior Tabitha Riley and sophomores Megan Harlan and Ebbonye Johnson. Riley and Harlan have posted the two best scores in the league so far this season, but don't count out Johnson who won the league's heptathlon title during her freshman year.
The meet gets under way Friday at 8:30 a.m. with the opening events of the multis. The field events will begin at 3 p.m., while the track events are slated to begin at 4 p.m.
-SFA-
