Stephen F. Austin
Houston Invitational
SFA Sharp on Final Day of Houston Invitational
1/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Stephen F. Austin at Houston Invitational
Yeoman Fieldhouse • Houston, Texas
Team Results: Not Scored
Complete Results 
HOUSTON – With the goal of peaking in time for the upcoming Southland Conference Indoor Championships from Feb. 15-16, the Stephen F. Austin track and field teams continued to take a step in that direction on Saturday at the Houston Invitational inside the Yeoman Fieldhouse. The sprints and jumps, specifically, were solid for the ‘Jacks on the final day of the meet.
The 200-meter dash was a strong topic for both men and women on Saturday. Freshman D’Lance Sharp grabbed second out of 51 men with a time of 22.34 seconds – just 0.07 seconds off the first place pace. Fellow freshman Devin Wallace got seventh (22.48) and sophomore Tedrick Hawkins rounded out the top ten at 22.58 seconds.
Aliyah Davis and Chasity Clark emerged from a 69-woman field in the 200m, placing third and seventh. Davis (25.04) came just 0.21 seconds short of winning the whole thing while Clark wasn’t far back at 25.24 seconds.
Sophomore Johnathan Joe also made some noise for the Lumberjacks on the track. He crossed third out of 62 men in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.74 seconds. With their times from Friday, Valerie Osamar (57.79) and Vanessa Egwuatu (58.13) ended up in fifth and seventh, respectfully, out of 54 runners in the women’s section.
The Ladyjacks placed three runners in the top nine of the 800-meter run. Freshman Madison Compass paced the pack with a fourth place time of 2:16.66, Tasia Williams followed in sixth at 2:19.75 and Allison Compass took ninth of 56 at 2:21.46.
Out of 34 women’s 4x400m relays, the Ladyjack unit of Tiffany Williams, Dawnshae Evans and the Compass twins crossed fourth with a combined effort of 3:53.43. SFA’s top time on the men’s side was 3:22.37 – good enough for sixth of 33. Pittman, Garrett Moore, Kerry Gleason and Jordan Washington teamed up for the mark.
A day after Demi Payne won the women’s pole vault battle with a Yeoman Fieldhouse record, the SFA men fared well in the same event. Unattached senior Cameron Meyer jumped 17-0.75 (5.20m) for third, followed by Arkansas transfer Noah Gilfillan in fourth with a jump of 16-6.75 (5.05m). Overall, 25 guys took to the runway.
Freshman Isiah Pittman continued to make quite a splash in the horizontal jumps in his first collegiate campaign. After winning the long jump on Friday, Pittman cracked the top five in the triple jump with a fifth place leap of 47-11 (14.60m).
Like they’ve been doing all season long, Lucas Akins and Jessica Spelling led SFA in the throws on Saturday. Spelling took fourth out of 51 women in the shot put, launching her best throw of 45-5 (13.84m) on her second attempt. Akins grabbed sixth out of 46 on the men’s side with a top throw of 52-9.50 (16.09m), just ahead of Derek Orlando who notched a toss of 50-10 (15.49m).
SFA will next venture west for the New Mexico Collegiate Classic in Albuquerque on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 5-6. Payne will have a chance to up her personal best pole vault mark of 15-7 in the same venue where she first set the bar last year.
-SFA-
