May 16, 2006

BEAUMONT - The Lamar University men's and women's track teams had six individuals qualify for the NCAA Regional Track Meet at the 2006 Southland Conference Outdoor Championships over the weekend.

At first, the Cardinals appeared to have just five runners qualify for the regional, but after a scoring error in the women's 400 meter dash was corrected Lamar officially had six athletes qualify.

After reviewing the finish line photos of the women's 400 meter dash, Toni Sylvester was determined to be the fourth place finisher, and not Liudmila Litvinova of Texas State. Sylvester sprinted to a 54.55 finish in the 400, which qualifies her for the regional track meet next week in Austin on Friday and Saturday.

Also qualifying for regional for the Cardinal track team were Amanda King (3,000 meter steeplechase), Renee Graham (3,000 meter steeplechase), Clerc Koenck (1,500 meter run), Chinelo Nwobu (400 meter dash) and Danny Shaw in the 1,500 meter run.

Shaw, King, Koenck and Nwobu earned a trip to the regional meet by virtue of their first place finishes in their events. King and Nwobu both surpassed the regional qualifying marks in addition to their championships, while Graham and Sylvester both exceeded the qualifying mark for the regional in their respective races.

Hamish Meacheam also collected All-Southland Conference honors by grabbing third place in the 5,000 meter run with a time of a 15:05.03. The third place finish marks the first time Meacheam has earned medalist honors at SLC outdoor meet.