May 10, 2008

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Nine Lamar University track athletes used strong performances in the prelims Saturday to advance to Sunday's finals of the 45th annual Southland Conference Outdoor Track Championship in Huntsville, Texas.

Senior Clerc Koenck was the first Lamar runner to punch her ticket to the finals as she coasted to a win in her heat of the 1,500 meter run. The top qualifier coming into the meet, Koenck posted a time of 4:46.72, the top qualifying time in the field.

Francis Kasagule followed Koenck's lead with a qualifying performance in the men's 1,500 meter run with a second place finish in his heat. The sophomore standout posted a time of 3:58.15, which was the third fastest qualifying time.

In the women's 100 meter hurdles the conference frontrunner, senior Jessika Johnson, ran the second fastest qualifying time with a 13.98 second performance. Freshman Megan Bibbs also made her way to the finals with the eighth fastest performance of the prelims and a personal best time of 14.50.

The women's 400 meter dash also saw two Lady Cardinals make their way to the finals as Toni Sylvester and Brittany Pollard finished among the top eight. Sylvester had the second fastest prelim performance in a regional qualifying time of 54.54. Pollard enters Sunday's final with the seventh fastest time, a 55.42.

In the men's 800 meter run Ewan Simpson joined Kasagule as the only Cardinals men's runner to advance through to the finals. The senior ran a season-best time of 1:53.75 which was the sixth fastest time in the meet.

The last pair of athletes to advance to the finals was Alexandra Mayfield and Angel Bassett in the women's 400 meter hurdles. Mayfield was the third fastest finisher with a 1:02.89 performance and Bassett grabbed the eighth spot in a time of 1:04.42.

Sunday's running finals get started at 5:05 p.m. with the women's 4x100 meter relay. The meet will conclude with the men's 4x400 meter relay, scheduled to begin at 7:40 p.m.

Up to the minute results for the SLC Championships can be found at http://www.flashresults.com/flashtexas/slcoutdoor08/