Stephen F. Austin
SLC Outdoor Championships
Payne Breaks Own Collegiate Record at SLCs
5/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Day One Results
HAMMOND, La. -- Just two weeks after breaking the collegiate outdoor women's pole vault record for the first time, Stephen F. Austin's Demi Payne raised the bar again on Friday afternoon at the 2015 Southland Conference Outdoor Championships at the Southeastern Track and Field Complex in Hammond, Louisiana. The junior pole vaulter skied over her previous top national mark with a monster 15-5.5 (4.71m) vault to win her second career SLC crown.
Payne made quick work of her first three heights, surpassing 13-11.25 (4.25m), 14-7.25 (4.45m) and 15-1.25 (4.60m) on her first attempts to secure the SLC meet record and clinch the conference individual title. As the only competitor remaining in the field, Payne decided to go for 15-5.5 (4.71m).
It only took her two attempts at the new height to break her own national mark, tightening her hold on the collegiate standard. Payne initially broke the outdoor record on April 24 at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa with a jump of 15-3.5 (4.66m). The bar she tackled on Friday is tied for the best height cleared in the world this outdoor season.
Payne, who owns the collegiate records for both the indoor and outdoor seasons, was named to the latest Bowerman Trophy Watch List earlier this week. The award is given annually to the best collegiate track and field athlete in the nation.
SFA experienced success in areas other than the pole vault as well to start the SLC meet. The distance specialists got the championships started off right early on Friday morning. Charles Mathenge was the first Lumberjack event champion, winning the men's 10,000-meter run with a time of 30:41.64. Colby Mehmen was right on his heels, finishing second in 30:59.26 while Anthony Gallardo also picked up points for the `Jacks with a sixth place performance.
On the women's side in the 10k, Samantha Ottman led a trio of Ladyjack point-earners. The sophomore ran a 37:29.38 race to take third and Courtney High crossed the finish line in 37:37.74 to take fourth. Rounding out the points for the distance crew was Taylor Bohr -- who grabbed two points after running to a 38:29.11 finish.
Other finals on Friday in which the men took home points included the hammer throw and the long jump. Derek Orlando led the way for the Lumberjacks in the hammer, slinging a 169-0.5 (51.52m) toss to claim the eighth and final point-earner spot in the field of 16. Trey Darty also collected points for the men with a sixth place effort in the long jump. His best jump was measured at 23-7.5 (7.20m).
For the Ladyjacks, Jessica Spelling recorded a personal record mark of 167-3.75 (50.99m) in the women's hammer to garner sixth place and three points for her team.
The busiest athletes in Hammond on Friday were multi-event specialists Cody Rhodes, Hunter Key, Madeline Kaufmann, Caitlin Jones and Laniya Taylor. Rhodes, the defending SLC champ in the decathlon, got things done in the first five events of the weekend, positioning himself nicely into third of 15. The senior compiled 3,566 points for a day one PR with five events remaining. Rhodes closed strong, finishing second in the shot put and running to a personal best time (50.15) in the 400-meter dash to end the day.
Key is also with striking distance of a podium spot after day one, sitting in eighth with 3,430 points.
In the women's heptathlon, Taylor and Kaufmann are sixth and ninth, respectively, through four events.
After one day, the men are currently in second place with 25 team points while the women are third with 28.
Day two of the SLC Championships will pick back up at 9:00 a.m. for the combined events. Field events will start at 3:00 p.m. with the women's shot put and men's triple jump while running event prelims begin at 2:00 p.m. Follow all of the action via Twitter at @SFA_TFXC.
15'5.5 #AxeEm #SouthlandStrong pic.twitter.com/fWeYPcUXM2
-- Demi Payne (@DemiPayne08) May 9, 2015
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