April 27, 2009

NATCHITOCHES, La. - In their final tune up before the Southland Conference championships, the Lamar University men's and women's track teams posted a combined 11 season-best performances at the Northwestern State Invitational at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex on Saturday.

In the women's competition Lamar grabbed a pair of first place finishes, as Taylor Cloy and Adrianne Johnson took the top spots in the 5,000 meter run and the 100 meter hurdles respectively. Cloy ran a personal-best time of 18:43.00 for first in the 5,000, while Daisy Cantu registered a second place finish in with a time of 20:38.36.

Johnson took top honors in the sprint hurdles, posting a season-best time of 14.33 seconds, which ranks fifth all time in school history. Megan Bibbs took third in the hurdles, running to a 14.65 second finish.

Emily Carpenter registered a third place finish in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, clocking a personal-best time of 12:11.07 which was good for third place.

Angel Basset also notched a third place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with a 1:06.97 performance, while Merci Bungei grabbed a 10th place finish in the 800 meter run with a 2:36.82 performance.

In the relays the Lady Cardinals turned in a season-best time of 3:58.99 in the 4x400 relay, which gave the team of Linnea Collin, Ashley Smith, Porshe Williams, Amanda Mooney a fourth place finish. In the 4x100 meter relay the team of Johnson, Bibbs, Porshe Williams and Ashley Smith ran to a seventh place finish in a time of 48.77.

On the men's side the Cardinals received a first place finish from Frank Bwambale in the 5,000 meter run. The senior turned in a season-best time of 15:39.20 to take the top spot. Ryan Kelly notched a third place finish in the 5,000, clocking a time of 17:05.26.

Ewan Simpson earned a second place finish in the 800 meter run while Julius Kasule joined him in the top 10 with an eighth place finish. Simpson ran to a 1:55.63 finish, while Kasule registered a time of 2:00.20. Both times were seasonal-bests.

In the 1,500 meter run Ahimbisibwe ran to a second place finish in a time of 4:01.87. Craig Bailey also had a second place finish for LU, posting a 23-10.25 foot long jump. He also came in eighth place in the triple jump with a 44-02.75 leap.

In the 400 hurdles two Cardinals finished in the top 10, as Jamal Nash placed fifth in a time of 56.94, while Jonathan Satchel placed eighth in a season-best time of 58.92.

The 4x400 relay team also posted a season-best performance on Saturday, running to a 3:16.79 finish. The team of Nash, Kasule, Josh Raglon and Greg Williams finished in third place.

The Cardinals will be back on the oval May 8-11 at the Southland Conference championships, hosted by Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas.