Stephen F. Austin
Southland Conference Indoor Championships
SFA Wins Two Titles to Open SLC Meet
2/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Feb. 26, 2014
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Day One at the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships is in the books, and Stephen F. Austin is bringing home some individual hardware with two individual titles to open the meet.
Shambrail Woods posted the best performance of her career in the pentathlon as she finished atop the standings after all five events with a total of 3,698 points. Woods came from behind to win the event as she was in fourth place through three events and second heading into the 800 meters.
Woods ran a personal best time of 2:21.45 in the 800 meters to score 804 points in the event and win the pentathlon overall. She tallied three personal bests among the five events. Her score of 3,698 points ranks sixth all-time at the Southland Conference Championship.
SFA claimed its next individual championship in the men’s pole vault, an event the Lumberjacks dominated.
Colton Ross won his first conference title with his clearance of 5.30 meters (17-04.50). It is the fifth time the Lumberjacks have won the men’s pole vault indoors at the Southland Championship.
Cameron Meyer was close behind in second place at 5.20 meters (17-00.75) and freshman Daven Murphree finished third with a leap of 5.05 meters (16-06.75). Christian Bean finished eighth to bring SFA’s total points scored in the pole vault to 25 points.
Head Coach Phil Olson said he and his staff are excited about the final day of action with the women currently in first place and the men in second. The league showed how much deeper it is this year, and SFA will be ready to fight for points on Thursday.
"The results today showed what we have known all season -- that this is a very competitive conference with some very good teams. My staff and I are excited to be in the positionwe are in after Day One," Olson said. "It was a terrific all-around effort, and we certainly got a big boost from Shambrail's win and our men's 1-2-3-8 finish in the pole vault. Those events were huge.
"Our team knows the importance of tomorrow and the challenges which lie ahead. We have a lot more work to do tomorrow and we will see if we can finish on top."
In the men’s high jump, Bryce Willard and Stephen Kinney both tied their personal bests to finish sixth and seventh, respectively. Willard cleared 2.00 meters (6-0675) and Kinney jumped over the bar at 1.95 meters (6-04.75).
SFA’s women scored six more points in the weight throw when La’Tricia Griffin finished third with a mark of 17.91 meters (58-09.25) after finishing second in the event last year. Jessica Spelling came in 12th in the weight throw on Wednesday.
More points came to the women’s side in the field events on Wednesday night with Kirsten Knox finishing third in the long jump. Her six points were earned with a jump of 5.85 meters (19-02.50).
Derek Calvert added six points for the men in the shot put with a mark of 15.74 meters (51-07.75), coming up just six centimeters shy of his season-best.
Another third-place finish came in for the men in the long jump. Trey Darty posted a personal best jump of 7.36 meters (24-01.75) to score six more points for the Lumberjacks. He improved his PR by nearly a foot.
Preliminary heats for running events helped set the tone for Thursday’s scoring opportunities, and SFA had three men and 10 moved on for the women in their respective finals.
The women’s team had a lot of success in the sprints, advancing two runners in the 60, 200 and 400, plus one in the 60 meter hurdles. The Ladyjacks added two more to the final in the 800 meters, including last year’s outdoor champion in the event DeJernel Jordan. She and Rana Ryan both ran personal records during prelims to carry momentum into the final on Thursday afternoon.
SFA’s men advanced only three runners through prelims to limit most of the Lumberjacks’ scoring opportunities on Thursday to field events and the heptathlon.
Two running finals were held on Wednesday with the Ladyjacks and Lumberjacks both scoring five points in the 5,000 meters.
Laurie Byrd finished sixth for the women, and Courtney High was right behind her in seventh place with a personal record time. Jeffrey Weisheit finished fourth for the men and Nick Guerra was just outside the points finishing ninth.
The distance medley relay closed the night’s action, and SFA’s women finished fourth with a time of 12:03.53 to score five more points. The men’s squad took fifth in 10:18.91 to score four points.
In addition to Woods’ victory, the Lumberjacks are in a position to win the men’s multi-event as well with Jamal Davis currently standing in second place through four of seven events in the heptathlon. Davis scored 2,750 points total in the 60 meters, long jump, shot put and high jump.
Cody Rhodes stands fifth and Bean is eighth while Taylor Park sits 12th to give SFA an opportunity to score bunches of points like in the pole vault.
Action resumes at the Southland Conference Championship on Thursday morning beginning with the final three events of the heptathlon. Field events start at 11 a.m. and running finals are set to start at noon.
Fans can follow the action online by following live results at cfpitiming.com. Updates will be available on Twitter by following the @SFA_XC handle and the official meet hashtag, #SLCIndoorTF.
The Ladyjacks will be seeking their sixth straight indoor Southland Conference crown, and the men are looking to repeat.
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