SFA Sweeps Team Titles at SLC Championships

Tuesday, February 17

Birmingham, Ala.

All Day

Stephen F. Austin

SLC Indoor Championships

SFA had nine individual champions at the 2015 SLC Indoor Meet

SFA Sweeps Team Titles at SLC Championships

2/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field

Feb. 17, 2015

Final Results: Women | Men
SLC Release

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Stephen F. Austin men's and women's track and field programs have returned to the top of the Southland Conference as both teams won team titles at the 2015 SLC Indoor Championships inside the Birmingham CrossPlex in Alabama on Tuesday afternoon. The women scored 132.5 points and the men earned 117 points to bring home their first team trophies since the 2013 season.

"This is a really special moment for the Stephen F. Austin track and field program," said head coach Phil Olson. "I told the team that this is something to cherish for the rest of their lives because it doesn't happen very often. I wanted them to really think about that and appreciate what they accomplished over the last two days. It was a hard fought battle against a really strong track and field conference and I couldn't be more proud of all of our student-athletes."

SFA had a huge second day in Birmingham, adding six individual titles to its three from the first day of the conference meet. Senior Brarysheyia Simpson won the first event for the Ladyjacks on Tuesday, posting a winning time of 7.58 seconds in the 60-meter dash. The victory in the event marked the first title ever in the SLC indoor championships for the Ladyjacks.

SFA continued to blaze through Tuesday's track finals with a victory in the men's 400-meter dash. Cass Brown-Stewart broke an SLC Indoor Championship record to win the event with a time of 46.49 seconds - the 13th fastest time in the NCAA this year.

The Ladyjack women dominated the 200-meter dash, placing three in the top four to collect 21 points for SFA. Junior Chasity Clark paced the Ladyjack trio by winning the event in 24.29 seconds. Aliyah Davis (24.57) came in third and Simpson (24.58) took fourth.

Late in the afternoon, the Ladyjacks picked up two additional individual titles from the field. Demi Payne broke a meet record on her first jump in the women's pole vault, clearing 14-0.50 (4.28m) on her first attempt. The one height cleared was all the NCAA record holder needed to claim her fifth straight individual crown and provide 10 points for her team.

Melai Carter also displayed some impressive jumping on the afternoon, surpassing 5-8.50 (1.74m) in the women's high jump to win the competition. The mark was a new personal best for the senior.

Rounding out the event titles on day two was the men's 4x400 meter relay. Johnathan Joe, Joshua Taylor, My'Lik Kerley and Cass Brown-Stewart teamed up to post 3:10.86 - a new SLC meet record - to win by nearly two seconds.

Cody Rhodes started things off for SFA in the morning with the final three events of the men's heptathlon. He used several PRs and a SLC Meet record in the final event - the heptathlon 1,000m - to finish second with a personal best 5,208 total points.

SFA started raking in the points with a plethora of track finals early in the afternoon. Trevon Caudle (6.85) and Jared Love (6.91) finished third and sixth, respectfully, in the men's 60-meter dash while Clark (7.64) and Davis (7.68) came in fifth and sixth in the same event behind Simpson on the women's side.

Taylor (47.53) and Kerley (47.72) complemented Brown-Stewart's winning efforts in the men's 400m with sixth and seventh place showings. Simpson continued to bring in points for the Ladyjacks with a third place finish on the women's side, clocking in at 55.76.

Senior DeJernel Jordan was the lone SFA athlete to score in the 800m. She grabbed fourth place and five points to the tune of 2:15.20.

Charles Mathenge, the winner of the 5,000-meter run on Monday, led SFA with a fourth place effort in the 3,000m (8:30.39). Rana Ryan led the Ladyjacks with a third place finish in the women's mile thanks to a time of 4:53.82.

Freshman Kerry Gleason used a personal best 8.19 seconds to claim a runner-up showing in the men's 60m hurdles. DeAndre Burns also scored in the event after a seventh place finish.

Rounding out the running events for the meet, the women's 4x400 meter relay was narrowly edged by the Sam Houston State relay. Keshia Tryon, Cierra Jefferson, Jessica Hatchett and DeJernel Jordan came in at 3:44.46 in the second place finish. The result ensured SFA held on for the lead and brought the team title back to Nacogdoches.

In the remainder of the field events, SFA got essential outcomes by several athletes. Trey Darty earned eight points after finishing second in the men's long jump. His best jump of 24-2.25 came on his third attempt. In the men's high jump, Kerley took fourth with a leap of 6-8.25. Jamal Peden used a distance of 47-11.75 in the men's triple jump to take fifth place out of 19 competitors.

In the shot put, both Lucas Akins (51-5) and La'Tricia Griffin (47-9.75) got fourth in their respective competitions while Jessica Spelling came in right behind Griffin with a 47-9.25 throw.

"It was a complete team effort on both sides today," Olson said. "I think that's the stamp on this championship - you have to have a complete program in order to win and we have one of those programs as we showed this week. It was just a great day."

Men's Final Team Standings

1.	Stephen F. Austin	117
2.	Sam Houston State	104
3.	Lamar	75
4.	Southeastern Louisiana	73
T5.	Abilene Christian	70
T5.	Northwestern State	70
7.	Central Arkansas	58
8.	McNeese State	28
9.	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	26
T10.	New Orleans	14
T10.	Incarnate Word	14
T10.	Houston Baptist	14

Women's Final Team Standings

1.	Stephen F. Austin	132.50
2.	Sam Houston State	118
3.	Lamar	106
4.	Abilene Christian	69
5.	Northwestern State	46
6.	McNeese State	38
7.	Incarnate Word	31
8.	Houston Baptist	28
9.	Southeastern Louisiana	27
10.	New Orleans	21.50
11.	Nicholls	18
12.	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	16
13.	Central Arkansas	11

SFA Individual Champions

Event	Name	Mark
Women 60m	Brarysheyia Simpson	7.58
Women 200m	Chasity Clark	24.29
Men 400m	Cass Brown-Stewart	46.49
Men 5,000m	Charles Mathenge	14:29.61
Men 4x400m	Stephen F. Austin	3:10.86
Women High Jump	Melai Carter	5-8.50
Men Pole Vault	Cameron Meyer	17-1
Women Pole Vault	Demi Payne	14-0.50
Women Pentathlon	Shambrail Woods	3,732