Stephen F. Austin
Alabama Relays
SFA Completes Day Two at Alabama Relays
3/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Friday Results| Saturday Schedule|Meet Central
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - On the second day of the first team outdoor meet of the season, the Stephen F. Austin track and field teams placed six in the top-five at the John Mitchell Alabama Relays on Friday at the Sam Bailey Track and Field Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
Trevon Caudle highlighted the list of top SFA finishers with a second place showing in the men's 100-meter dash. The junior came just one one-hundredth of a second shy of his personal best time, coming in at 10.72 seconds on Friday. He nearly posted the fastest time among the field of 38, coming just a few thousandths of a second behind Mike Simmons (Barton County CC).
In a group consisting of three freshmen, SFA also grabbed second place in the men's 1600m sprint medley. Junior Shawn Goff led freshmen Charles Fentress, Johnathan Joe and My'Lik Kerley as the group came in behind Mississippi State with a time of 3:27.72. Overall, 12 teams competed in the event.
Fresh off her Southland Conference indoor title in the women's high jump last month, senior Melai Carter continued to jump well to begin the 2015 outdoor season. She cleared 5-7 (1.70m) to claim a third place finish among the 45 women competing on Friday. Only Logan Boss (Mississippi State) and Bailey Weiland (Georgia Tech) leaped higher on the day, surpassing 5-8.75 (1.75m). SFA's Ashley Gadson cleared the next height in the progression (1.65m) to finish tied for seventh.
In their first outdoor meet together as teammates, Caudle, Kerley, sophomore Aaron Piper and freshman Tedrick Hawkins combined to post the third fastest time in the 4x200 meter relay, clocking in at 1:25.26. The group finished less than a second behind first place Barton County CC, while the relay team from Southern Miss. took second.
On the women's side in the same event, Jessica Hatchett, Aliyah Davis, Chasity Clark and Brarysheyia Simpson claimed fifth place with a time of 1:38.39 - just one tenth of a second behind Middle Tennessee State's squad for fourth. Hatchett and Simpson were on the Ladyjack team that broke the facility record last year on March 21, running a speedy 1:36.67.
Rounding out SFA's six top-five marks was freshman Kerry Gleason. After a big performance at the SLC Indoor Championships in mid-February, Gleason continued to post fast times in the hurdles. He followed his runner-up effort in the 60m hurdles in the SLC meet with a fourth place finish in the 400m hurdles in Alabama. Gleason ran the race in 53 seconds flat.
SFA also came in sixth in a couple of events. Stephanie White was clocked at 1:02.46 in the women's 400m hurdles, taking sixth out of 35 competitors. Bria McIver, Laniya Taylor, Cierra Jefferson and DeJernel Jordan combined for a time of 4:06.80 in the women's 1600m sprint medley to capture sixth of 20 teams.
A number of finals will be held on Saturday on the final day of the three-day meet. Field event finals will begin at noon with the discus while the running finals will get underway at 2:00 p.m. with the 4x100m relays. For live results of Saturday's action click here.
-SFA-
