May 8, 2008

BEAUMONT - The Lamar University men's and women's track and field teams wrap up the 2008 regular season this weekend, as they head to Huntsville, Texas for the 45th annual Southland Conference Outdoor Track Championships at Sam Houston State University

Competition begins Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. as the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon kick things off. Field events start at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. with the women's and men's hammer throw events, respectively. The lone non-multi running events scheduled for Friday are the 10,000 meters for the women and men at 8:45 and 9:30 p.m., respectively.

Saturday's competition begins at 9 a.m. with the continuation of the multi events. Field events get underway at 1 p.m. and the running event preliminaries start at 5. On Sunday the running finals get underway at 5 p.m. and the meet will conclude with the running of the 4x400 meter relays.

Men's Championship

Entering the meet, the Lamar men are looking to improve on their ninth place finish from a year ago. The Cardinals scored 60 points at the 2007 and are poised to better that mark this season with several athletes entering the meet among SLC leaders in their specific events.

Francis Kasagule, who earned the 2007 men's Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year award a year ago, leads the Cardinals into the meet with the top times in the SLC in the mile and the 3,000 meter run.

Senior Michael Gauthier enters his finals SLC championship meet looking to capture the title in the 100 meter dash. He has the second fastest 100 in the conference this season, a 10.42 effort at the Ty Terrell Relays and has made the finals two times in his career. As a freshman in 2005 Gauthier grabbed third place and last year as a junior he finished in sixth place.

Gauthier and senior Stephen Boone will also be vying for a spot in the 200 meter dash finals. They have the 11th and 12th fastest times in the conference coming into the meet at 21.76 and 21.79 seconds respectively. Boone grabbed an eighth place finish in a time of 22.60 in the SLC indoor championship back in February.

In the 400 meter dash Jerel Massenburge will look to repeat his all conference performance from the indoor season where he claimed a third place finish in a time of 49.14. In the outdoor season he has the sixth fastest time in the conference among the field of competitors at 48.00. Julius Kasule and Greg Williams also rank amongst the top 15 runners in the field, coming in with the ninth and 14th fastest times at 48.42 and 49.18 respectively.

In the 800 meter dash Ewan Simpson looks to repeat his all conference performance from last year when he placed third with a 1:52.12 performance. The senior won the indoor 800 meter title in February with a time of 1:55.27. He enters the meet eighth amongst the field of competitors with a season-best time of 1:54.08.

Sophomore Francis Kasagule looks to lead the LU distance runners in the meet, as he comes in as the top competitor in the 1,500 meter dash with a season-best time of 3:46.76. He finished in second place in the mile at the 2007 championships. Kasagule will also be running the 5,000 meter run, coming in with the second fastest time in the conference at 14:01.94. He looks to defend his title form a year ago.

Samuel Kosgei will join Kasagule in the 5,000, entering the meet with the fourth-best time on the conference this season at 14:35.01. Randy Becker, Frank Bwambale and Spencer Prudhomme will join the two LU front runners in the 5,000 meter run.

Kosgei, Bwambale and Becker will also hit the track for the 10,000 meter run on Friday night where they each look to score point for the Cardinals. Kosgei enters the meet with the fastest time among competitors in the field at 29:54.15. Neither Becker nor Bwambale have run a 10,000 this season.

The Cardinals will also look to score points in the relays where they rank seventh in the conference in both the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays. Last year LU finished in eighth in the 4x100 and seventh in the 4x400.

Women's Championship

The Lady Cardinals finished in fifth place last year, and they will look to get back where they were behind the running of several top athletes.

Brittany Pollard and Toni Sylvester enter the 400 meter dash as two of the top runners in the conference, ranking fourth and sixth with times of 54.92 and 56.46 respectively. Pollard notched a seventh place finish in a time of 58.06 last season and she took third place at the indoor championship in February. Sylvester did not run last year, but in 2006 she grabbed a fourth place finish with a 54.55 performance. She placed fifth at the indoor meet with a time of 56.57.

Clerc Koenck leads the way for Lamar in the 1,500 meter run, coming in as the top competitor by more than 10 seconds. She has a season-best time of 4:23.11 and is seeking her third-straight SLC title in the 1,500. She will also be going after the 5,000 meter title, despite not having run the event this season.

In the 10,000 meter run Stacey Monteau will look to score for the Lady Cardinals. Last year she picked up a sixth place finish in a time of 38:54.68.

In the 100 meter hurdles Jessika Johnson leads the way for a trio of Lady Cardinals. Johnson has the fastest time on the conference this season at 13.68. She has finished in the top 10 in the 100 hurdles three times in her career. Megan Bibbs and Adrianne Johnson will also take the track in the sprint hurdles, raking 10th and 13th at 14.57 and 14.94 respectively.

In the 400 meter hurdles Alexandra Mayfield will attempt to repeat her all-conference performance from a year ago when she finished in second place with a 1:02.09 performance. She enters the meet with the third fastest time in the SLC this season at 1:02.31.

The women's relay teams are also poised to pick up points for Lamar. The 4x400 relay team enters the meet with the second-fastest time in the conference at 3:46.18, while the 4x100 meter relay team ranks eighth at 47.50 seconds.

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