Stephen F. Austin
Texas Invitational
SFA Goes Fourth/Fifth at Texas Invitational
4/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Final Results
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Stephen F. Austin track and field teams used 10 top five finishes on the men's side and six on the women's to take fourth and fifth place, respectively, at the Texas Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the University of Texas.
The Lumberjacks earned 78 team points en route to a fourth place showing of nine schools. Texas won the team title, followed by Minnesota and Sam Houston State. The Ladyjacks accumulated 58.5 points to take fifth place. As with the men, the Texas women won their home meet.
Demi Payne highlighted SFA's list of 16 top five finishers with her eighth individual women's pole vault title of the year. She recorded a top jump of 14-9 (4.50m) to beat the 20-woman field by over a foot. After surpassing 13-11.25 (4.25m) and 14-5.25 (4.40m) on her first attempts, Payne needed only two cracks at 14-9 to raise the bar further.
As the only remaining competitor in the field, Payne had a go at what would have been a new NCAA outdoor record height of 15-1.75 (4.62m). Despite coming just short in three attempts, she made it clear that another national record was well within reach.
For the men, Daven Murphree also had a good afternoon in the pole vault area. The sophomore tied Texas' Casey Wicker and two others for the top height cleared at 16-9.25 (5.11m) but ultimately got second after tiebreak rules took effect.
DeJernel Jordan led the Ladyjacks on the track, running the 800m in 2:13.36 -- the fastest collegiate time and second fastest overall. She picked up 10 points for her team in the process.
The SFA relay teams performed well, as they have all year long. The men's 4x400 team of Tedrick Hawkins, Johnathan Joe, Joshua Taylor and My'Lik Kerley posted a runner-up effort with a time of 3:09.26 -- just three hundredths off the pace set by Minnesota. The women ran their relay in 3:43.59 to take third behind Texas and UTSA. Saturday's group was comprised of Tiffany Williams, Cierra Jefferson, Chasity Clark and Jordan.
In the 4x100, the Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks grabbed fourth and fifth, respectively. DeAndre Burns, Hawkins, Jared Love and Trevon Caudle came in at 40.89 seconds while Chelsi Gill, Clark, Laniya Taylor and Aliyah Davis posted a 46.53 mark. Texas won both the men's and women's events.
In the first event of the day, the men jammed two inside the top four in the javelin. Hunter Hopkins came in second with a best throw of 206-2 (62.84m), which came in his final attempt, while Dillon Branson used his first throw of 176-5 (53.78m) to take fourth.
Kerley, Taylor and Trey Darty also each finished fourth in their respective individual events on Saturday. Kerley led the Lumberjacks in the 400m with a time of 47.21 seconds, Taylor ran the 400m hurdles in 52.24 seconds and Darty jumped 22-1.75 feet (6.75m) which was the third best collegiate mark and fourth overall.
Also cracking into the top five for SFA with fifth place finishes on Saturday was Kerry Gleason in the 110-meter hurdles (15.03 seconds), Stephanie White in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.58), La'Tricia Griffin in the hammer throw (49.59m) and Bryce Willard in the men's high jump (1.95m).
SFA will next be in action next Thursday -- Saturday at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California. The Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks making the trip will be joined by some of the elite athletes in the world.
-SFA-
