Feb. 26, 2010

FRISCO, Texas -- The Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships will hit the track Friday at the Mosier Indoor Track Facility on the University of Oklahoma campus. League records and honors are on the line in addition to possible trips to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, March 12-13, at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.

The UTSA men's team has won the last four Southland Indoor Championships. The Roadrunners joined Lamar University as the league's only programs to win four consecutive indoor titles. Leading the Roadrunners into competition is two-time All-American senior Teddy Williams. Earlier this season the Tyler, Texas, native raced to the Southland Conference season leading 60-meter dash mark of 6.61 seconds at the New Balance Invitational. His mark stands as the third-fastest in the nation and provisionally qualifies him for next month's NCAA championships. Williams set the Southland record in the 60 meters (6.59) at the Indoor Championship last season. Other notable UTSA athletes joining Williams in Norman are junior Devon Bond and freshmen Keith Benford and Richard Garrett.

A Trenton, N.J., native, Bond holds this season's top performance in the triple jump with an NCAA provisional leap of 52-feet, 5 ½-inches at the New Balance Invitational Feb. 6.

Benford is the conference's top performer in the high jump with a UTSA record and NCAA provisional clearance of 7-2 ¼. Another top freshman performer for the Roadrunners is Garret who leads the conference in the shot put with a throw of 58-3 ¼ at the Leonard Hilton Memorial in Houston, Texas Jan. 15.

Other men's indoor track and field athletes returning to competition at the Southland indoor meet include Southeastern Louisiana junior Adonson Shallow, Stephen F. Austin senior Matt Langdon and UT Arlington senior Adolphus Jones. Shallow, a native of Kingston, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is the conference leader in the weight throw with an NCAA provisional toss of 65-10 ¼. He is also second in the conference in the shot put with a throw of 57-2 ¼.

A College Station, Texas, native, Langford set a school record this season in the weight throw with a toss of 64-10. His throw ranks him No. 2 in the conference and provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA championship next month. Langford's teammate, sophomore Nick McCloud, put up impressive numbers in the 60 meter hurdles this season with an NCAA provisional time of 7.90 seconds.

Jones, a native of St. Kitts and Nevis, set the Southland record in the heptathlon at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa Feb. 16. He won the event by collecting an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 5,532 points. Jones' score ranks him ninth in the country. His teammate junior Cordero Gray provisionally qualified for the NCAA championship in the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.68.

In the women's competition, Stephen F. Austin returns in search of consecutive Southland indoor track and field titles for the first time since the 2005-2006 seasons.

The Ladyjacks are led by senior Frednisha Marshall. The Tyler, Texas native threw an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 65-2 ¾ in the weight throw at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark Feb. 13. Marshall leads the conference in the event and is No. 15 in the country. Marshall also has the second best conference mark in the shot put with a throw of 48-4 ¾.

Sophomore Carrie Hahn, from Vista Ridge, Texas, is tied for the top spot in the conference in the high jump with a leap of 5-5 ¾. Hahn is tied with Texas State jumpers Valerie Hanckock and Katherine Evans.

Other notable athletes competing are Northwestern State junior Trecey Rew and UTSA senior Dana Mecke.

Rew, from Garland, Texas, set school records in both shot put and weight throw at the Houston Indoor Invitational. Rew's 51-5 throw in the shot was an NCAA provisional mark. Her weight throw of 57-8 ½ put her in second place in the Southland Conference.

Mecke, a junior from Bulverde, Texas, leads the conference in both the 800-meter run (2:13.19) and the mile run (4:51.72). Mecke has won both of these events at the last two Southland Indoor Championship meets.

The Sam Houston State 4x400 meter relay team of Monika May, Folashade George, Tonicia Wimberly and Jessica Fisher posted a time of 3:49.93 for the victory at the LSU Twilight Invitational Feb. 19. The team's performance ranks them No. 1 in the conference by almost 3 seconds.

LAMAR