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Lady Cardinals Place 5th, Cardinals 9th At 2005 SLC Outdoor Track & Field Championships
May 15, 2005
HUNTSVILLE - Three individual victories and seven all-conference performances helped the Lamar women to a fifth-place finish and the LU men secure ninth as the 2005 Southland Conference outdoor track and field championships wrapped up on Sunday at the York Track & Field Complex on the campus of Sam Houston State University. The Lady Cardinals racked up 72 points en route to their highest SLC finish since placing fifth in 1987. The previous best was a sixth-place showing in 1997 at the Sun Belt Conference Championships. The Lady Cards point total was also the highest since tallying 113 at the '98 SBC meet. The men rolled up 44 points for their highest point total since rejoining the SLC in 1999. The Sam Houston State men's and women's teams captured the league titles in landslide fashion. The SHSU women finished with 172.5 points, followed by Texas State (137), Stephen F. Austin (125), Texas-San Antonio (113) and Texas-Arlington (73.5). On the men's side, the Bearkats tallied 188 points, topping second-place SFA by 61.5 points. UTSA (96) was third, followed by Northwestern State (95), UTA (88), TXST (63), McNeese State (56.5) and Southeastern Louisiana (55). Junior Jacqueline John was the top point scorer for the Lady Cardinals, as the Iowa, Louisiana native finished the day with 14 total points. She placed second in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:39.44, before racing to a third-place showing in the 5,000 meters with a 17:34.46 clocking. She was joined in the 5K by teammates Natasha Williams (6th, 18:24.35) and Renee Graham (8th, 18:28.03). Teammate Chinelo Nwobu notched a second record-breaking day for the Lady Cardinals on Sunday as she captured the 400-meter title with a Bowers' Stadium record time of 53.77. It was her second time to break the stadium record in as many days, while also besting her own school record which she set during Saturday's prelims. Nwobu also ran the first leg of the women's eighth-place mile relay team which ran a season-best time of 3:54.61.
The men received first-place showings from senior Trenton Price and junior Jake Champagne. Price blazed around the track in a season-best time of 46.86 to take home the 400-meter title, while Champagne edged UTSA's Larry Brooks at the tape to win the 800 meters in a time of 1:50.66. The Port Neches native now owns the SLC indoor and outdoor 800-meter titles, after capturing the indoor crown on Feb. 19 in Houston. Price and Champagne also teamed up to push the men's mile relay team to a fourth-place showing with their second-fastest time of the season (3:11.50). Senior Johan Hed and Damien Broomes also ran on the men's 4X400-meter relay unit. Lady Cardinal Toni Sylvester added five points for the LU women with a seventh-place showing in the 400 meters and a sixth-place finish in the 200. She raced to a time of 55.71 in the quarter mile and clocked Lamar's fifth-best 200 with a 25.54. Sylvester, a sophomore from Sour Lake, also anchored the eighth-place 4X100-meter relay team to a time of 47.51. In the women's 800 meters, Amber Prather and Candace Taylor finished second and fourth, respectively. Prather clocked LU's third-fastest time in school history with a personal record 2:12.70, while Taylor posted the fourth-best time in Lamar's history with a 2:12.81. Both ladies also ran legs of the mile relay team. The men also received an all-conference performance from freshman Michael Gauthier, who finished third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.57. Gauthier, a native of Bridge City, also ran the lead leg of the 400-meter relay team which placed eighth with a season-best time of 41.40. 2005 SLC Outdoor Championships MEN: Sam Houston State 188, Stephen F. Austin 126.5, Texas-San Antonio 96, Northwestern State 95, Texas-Arlington 88, Texas State 63, McNeese State 56.5, Southeastern Louisiana 55, LAMAR 44, Louisiana-Monroe 6. |
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