Stephen F. Austin
New Mexico Collegiate Classic
SFA Starts Strong in New Mexico
2/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Friday Results | Saturday Schedule
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – The Stephen F. Austin track and field program was well represented on Friday for day one of the New Mexico Collegiate Classic in the Albuquerque Convention Center. Five athletes cracked the top five in their respective events among a loaded field out west.
Senior DeJernel Jordan was one of the big highlights of the night for the Ladyjacks. The senior raced her way to a first place showing in the women’s 600-meter run, clocking in at 1:31.95 to outlast a 19-woman field. She will look to carry that momentum with her into Saturday afternoon when she joins Chasity Clark, Jessica Hatchett, Keshia Tryon and Brarysheyia Simpson on the women’s 4x400 meter relay.
In the 400m, Cass Brown-Stewart led a trio of Lumberjacks landing a spot in the top ten out of 45 men competing. The senior, who owns the 20th best time in the NCAA this year (47.00 – Arkansas Invitational), challenged that time with a 47.20 mark on Friday. He took second place while freshman My'Lik Kerley (5th – 47.80) and Joshua Taylor (10th – 48.10) were right on his heels.
In another jam-packed 400m field, Hatchett finished with the best of them on the women’s side. The junior came in sixth out of 55 runners, finishing in 56.64 – just two one hundredths of a second behind New Mexico’s Holly VanGrinsven.
La'Tricia Griffin and Trey Darty came up huge for SFA in Friday’s field events. Griffin posted a new personal best in the women’s weight throw to start the meet in the late afternoon. She launched her weight a whopping 60 feet, six inches (18.45m) to claim the third longest throw of the day.
Darty also lunged his way to a new personal best on Friday, posting a 24-2.50 foot leap (7.38m) in the men’s long jump. Twenty-nine men took flight in the event and Darty edged Texas’ Basil Fares to finish in fourth place.
SFA will be back at it on Saturday morning with the conclusion of the New Mexico Collegiate Classic. The women’s shot put will open the day at 10:30 a.m. CT while the men’s and women’s 4x400 meter relays will wrap things up around 4:15 p.m. CT.
One of the many events to watch for on Saturday will be the women’s pole vault showdown between SFA’s Demi Payne and previous NCAA record holders Sandi Morris (Arkansas) and Kaitlin Petrillose (Texas). Payne currently holds the national record of 15-7 (4.75m) set on Jan. 24 at the very same venue in Albuquerque, but will be facing Morris and Petrillose head-to-head for the first time in 2015. For live updates on all of the excitement starting at 11:30 a.m. CT, follow SFA on Twitter (@SFA_TFXC).
-SFA-
