Stephen F. Austin
SLC Outdoor Championships
Ladyjacks First Heading into Final Day's Event
5/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
May 9, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack track and field team heads into the final day of the 2009 Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a 33-point lead over second-place Texas State (87.50 -54.50). The `Jacks enter the final day only four points behind overall team leader Southeastern Louisiana, 54-50. SFA added two more conference individual champions and five All-SLC performances on the second day of the meet.
Just a little more than 24 hours after winning the women's hammer title, junior Frednisha Marshall recorded a repeat performance by winning the shot put title. Marshall posted an NCAA regional mark of 48-7.50 to win the event, while junior Kaitlyn Andrews earned all-conference honors with her second-place finish (47-11.25). Andrews' mark was also an NCAA regional qualifier.
Junior Keith Mahipala closed the day with a performance that was eerily similar to freshman Mitch Ownbey's win in the 10,000 meters Friday night. Mahipala battled Southeastern Louisiana's Henry Rop for the majority of the race, and with approximately 300 meters remaining Mahipala picked up the pace leaving Rop in his wake. Mahipala won the event with an NCAA regional mark of 9:04.74 to take the title. Freshman Harmon McClanahan finished fifth (9:17.63) in the event to score four points for SFA.
The Ladyjacks' heptathlon trio of Tabitha Riley, Ebbonye Johnson and Megan Harlan went 3-4-5 in the event to score a total of 15 points and give SFA an early 25-point advantage. Riley, a junior from Carrollton, recorded her fifth consecutive All-SLC finish in a multi-event competition by placing third overall with 4,745 points. Riley just held off Johnson (4,739) for all-conference honors, while freshman Megan Harlan finished fifth overall with a score of 4,562.
Junior Camelia Sams added an all-conference performance in the women's long jump. The junior recorded a mark of 19-5.50 to finish second overall in the event. Classmate Silent-Joy Egboba-Waye was sixth in the event with a jump of 18-9.75.
Freshman Andrew Plentl scored three points for the Lumberjacks finishing sixth in the decathlon. Plentl finished the event with 6,356 points. The Ladyjacks placed to athletes two athletes in the finals of the women's high jump. Sophomore Whitney Trimble recorded one of her best marks of the season when she cleared a height of 5-7.00 to finish in a two-way tie for fourth, just missing all-conference honors. Freshman Carrie Hahn was sixth overall with mark of 5-5.00.
Another SFA freshman who shined bright for SFA Saturday was Brazoswood freshman Jon Arthur in the men's shot put. Arthur recorded a toss of 53-7.00 to score three points for `Jacks. Sophomore Meredith Blocker picked up a point for the Ladyjacks in the steeplechase with her eighth-place finish. She crossed the finish line with a time of 11:57.92.
SFA returns to action Sunday morning to close the final day of competition in the 2009 SLC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The field events get under way at 10:30 a.m. with the women's pole vault. The track events are set to begin at 5:05 p.m. with the women's 4X100-meter relay.
-SFA-
