SFA Travels to Houston for Two-Day Meet
1/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Live Results | Schedule | Meet Info | Heat Sheets
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin track and field program is set to compete in the Howie Ryan Invitational on the campus of the University of Houston this weekend at the Yeoman Fieldhouse. The two-day event is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning with the women's weight throw and will run through Saturday evening with the conclusion of the 4x400 meter relay races.
The invitational will feature 16 NCAA Division I programs from around the region. The Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks will be up against athletes from eight other Southland Conference schools, including Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, Lamar, New Orleans, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Grambling, Prairie View A&M, Rice, SMU, Texas, Texas State and UTSA will make up the other half of the talented field.
La'Tricia Griffin, who won the women's weight throw at the Arkansas Invitational on Jan. 9 and took second at the Texas A&M Team Invitational on Jan. 17 earlier this year, will look to continue her early season success when the meet begins on Friday morning.
Later on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., NCAA record holder Demi Payne will take to the runway for the women's pole vault final. In the last two weeks, Payne has posted the three best jumps in NCAA history (15-2.25, 15-3, 15-7) and has been named the athlete of the week on five different occasions by three different organizations.
The men's long jump and weight throw will round out the field events on day one. At 4:30 p.m. the women's 400-meter dash is set to open up the running events. The SFA men will get a crack at the same distance at 4:45 p.m. Other finals for Friday include the men's and women's 5,000m, 200m and the distance medley.
Saturday's lineup is more track heavy with 16 finals on the afternoon. The shot put will open up the field festivities at 9:00 a.m. and conclude with the men's pole vault at 2:00 p.m. Reigning SLC Athlete of the Week Colton Ross will lead a dynamic men's pole vault crew with Daven Murphree and Cameron Meyer.
Senior Cass Brown-Stewart, already a two-time individual champion in the 400m this year, will chase his third title in the event on Saturday afternoon at 1:35 p.m.
Other than the more than 50 SFA athletes making the trip to Houston this weekend, distance runner Charles Mathenge will represent the Lumberjacks at the University of Washington's UW Invitational on Saturday. The junior will be up against some top talent in the 3,000 meter run, which begins at 6:35 p.m. central time in Seattle.
For fans unable to attend the weekend's action, live stats will be available courtesy of Flash Results Texas. Live Results can be found by visiting FlashResultsTexas.com and following the appropriate links, or by clicking here.
-SFA-
