BEAUMONT – Chanissey Fowler locked up another lifetime best and Cardinal jumpers finish with high marks Friday when Lamar University Track and Field competed in the Howie Ryan Invitational, hosted by Houston at Yeoman Fieldhouse.
 
The meet was the final meet before the LU heads to Birmingham, Ala. for the Southland Conference Indoor Championships in a little over a week.
 
Chanissey Fowler continues her fabulous season
Three Cardinals - Fowler, Janay Stanton and Trashauna Hardy – all claimed spots in the finals of the 60-meter dash.  Stanton finished third overall in the last round with a 7.79 time, just short of her career best, and Hardy was one one-thousandth of a second behind her for fourth.
 
Fowler, who was pulled from the finals, downed her previous personal record time during the prelims and finished below the 7.50 mark for the first time in her career. She clocked in at 7.48 seconds and was the top finisher in her heat by more than three-tenths of a second. Her new time sits atop the Southland Conference standings.
 
Phillips, Williams, O'Bonna lead the jumpers
Thai Williams was the top collegiate finisher in the long jump on a mark of 18 feet, 11 ¾ inches. She followed only Freeman Derrenae's 20 feet, 1 ¾ inches and Morgan Pressley's 19 feet, 6 inches. Both competed unattached. Deja Phillips finished in a tie for fifth overall on a mark of 18 feet, 7 ¾ inches.
 
Keri Banks topped her season best on a first-place tying finish of 5 feet, 5 inches. She tied Texas Southern's Sydney Edwards. Jailyn Coward landed her first collegiate mark with a 4 feet, 9 inch leap.
 
On the men's side of the long jump, Brian O'Bonna took silver and was the best collegiate jumper on a mark of 22 feet, 5 inches, and teammate Adam Richard hit his season best mark of 22 feet, 4 ¼ inches and took third place.
 
Deja Phillips claimed second place in the triple and crushed her previous best mark with a 38-foot leap, a little under four feet better than her previous mark.  Williams was fourth in the event on a 37 feet, 11 ¼ jump. In the  men's triple, Tylen Guidry neared a personal best, but finished in third place with a 47 feet, 4 ¼ inches jump.
 
Sokolova races to silver to lead distance program
In the middle-distance, Alexandra Sokolova ran the 800 meters for the first time this season and picked up a silver in the event with 2:13.94 race, only behind an unattached Dauicia Demerson's time of 2:13.77.
 
In the distance, Erika DeWitt slashed her career best time in the 3000 meters down to 10:41.03 from 11:01.93, which was at the Houston Invitational this season. She ended up in third place behind Rice's Cali Roper and Abby Halm. Meghan DuPree ran in the event with here and finished on a 10:56.44 time.
 
Georgia Tuckfield ran in the women's mile and was third behind a duo of Owls, with a time of 5:09.72.
 
Taylor takes gold in 60-meter hurdles
Dominique Taylor ran the fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles during the preliminary round, and turned that top seed into a first-place finish in the finals. She ran an 8.73 second race in the early round followed that with an 8.69 finish in the finals. Kyara Levi also qualified for the finals in the event 9.16, which was her career best time. She finished the meet eighth overall.
 
Sprinters come away with Top 5 marks
In the men's 400 meters, Damerian Toliver grabbed fifth place on a 50.90 mark. Christian Joseph finished two slots behind him at 51.64, and Thomas Lightfoot raced to a 53.17 time.
 
Stanton led four other racers in the women's 200-meters. She marked in with a 25.79 time, followed by Bianca Allen's 26.31 mark and Na'Imah Muhammad's 26.38. Stanton's Cardinals teammates finished third and fourth, respectively.
 
In the men's 200, Adam Petties and Jimmy Struble were first and second, and Sturble clocked a career-best 23.22 time in the event. Petties ran a first-place mark of 23.17.
 
Up next
Lamar heads off to Birmingham to bid for Southland Conference titles in two-day league meet that starts on Feb. 22.