Stephen F. Austin
Alabama Relays
Relays Highlight Final Day for SFA in Alabama
3/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Saturday Results | Compiled Alabama Relays Results
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The final day of the John Mitchell Alabama Relays featured some of the marquee relay finals and the Stephen F. Austin track and field teams finished near the top in several key events at the Sam Bailey Track and Field Stadium on campus of the University of Alabama on Saturday.
The men's 4x400 meter relay highlighted the final day of the three-day meet, as the team of Johnathan Joe, My'Lik Kerley, Tedrick Hawkins and Joshua Taylor took first with a time of 3:09.10. The group just edged the relay team from Mississippi State by 23 hundredths of a second to claim SFA's first first place showing of the outdoor season. Overall, 23 teams competed in the event.
After the first outdoor meet of the season, the Lumberjacks' time is tied for the fastest in the country with Georgia.
The men also performed well in the 4x100 meter relay on Saturday, taking third in the event with a mark of 40.95 seconds. DeAndre Burns, Trevon Caudle, Hawkins and Aaron Piper teamed up in the 13-team field, slipping by Southland Conference foe Southeastern Louisiana by nine hundredths of a second in the first heat.
The women also competed well in the two relays, running to a fourth place finish out of 19 teams in the 4x400 meter relay and taking eighth of 19 in the 4x100. Jessica Hatchett, DeJernel Jordan, Aliyah Davis and Brarysheyia Simpson combined to put a time of 3:49.37 on the board for the Ladyjacks in the 4x400, good enough to beat Louisville by 22 hundredths of a second. Alabama State posted the fastest time on Saturday (3:41.17).
Davis also ran a leg in the 4x100 meter relay along with Chasity Clark, Laniya Taylor and Stephanie White. Together they ran the lap around the track in 46.66 seconds, again edging Louisville for the top-eight finish.
Rounding out SFA's top eight finishes on the day was the men's distance medley group of Christopher Williams, Will Gibson, Charles Fentress and Edwin Munoz. The group of freshmen and sophomores clocked in at 10:30.53 to claim eighth place.
SFA's top individual performances on Saturday included Trey Darty in the long jump (ninth place - 6.90m), Lucas Akins in the discus (11th place - 50.05m), Kayla Brewer in the long jump (11th place - 5.59m), Bryce Willard in the high jump (12th place - 2.00m) and Gleason in the 110-meter hurdles (13th place - 15.13 seconds), while White (14.42 seconds) and Bria McIver (14.45 seconds) finished 10th and 11th, respectively, out of 54 women in the 100-meter hurdles.
The SFA track and field teams will next head to Austin for the Texas Relays next Thursday through Saturday.
-SFA-
