May 5, 2012

2012 Lone Star Conference Championships
Location: Memorial Stadium ∙ Commerce, Texas
Result: A&M-Commerce finishes sixth with 57 points
Top Performer: Abigail Leaupepe-Tele places first in the discus (45.18 meters) and ninth in the shot put (11.96 meters)
Up Next: at Incarnate Word Last Chance Meet ∙ Thursday, May 10 ∙ San Antonio, Texas

2012 Lone Star Conference Championships Final Results (PDF)

COMMERCE, Texas -- Competing on its home track, A&M-Commerce had a respectable showing over the weekend, accumulating 57 points to finish sixth in the 2012 Lone Star Conference Championships at Memorial Stadium.

A number of Lions made their mark on the conference meet as A&M-Commerce recorded 13 top-10 finishes over the three-day meet, including six season-best marks with an additional seven NCAA Division II provisional qualifying showings.

Sophomore Abigail Leaupepe-Tele came on strong in the conference meet as she became the LSC champion in the discus, notching a provisional qualifying hurl of 45.18 meters to give the Lions their sole conference champion in 2012. She also placed ninth in the shot put with an 11.96 meter showing as throws teammate Ashley Ross placed eighth in the discus (38.25 meters).

Junior Whitney Hargraves joined Leaupepe-Tele in the duplicate top-10 category, earning a pair of silver medals by placing second in both the long jump (5.94 meters) and triple jump (12.13 meters), both of which were season-bests and provisionally qualifying marks as Hargraves improved her standing in both events, falling just shy of earning an automatic bid in both events.

Freshman Tierra Hill also joined the duo with a pair of top-10 finishes, placing fifth in the triple jump (11.64 meters) and eighth in the long jump (5.68 meters), which also was a provisional qualifying jump. Senior Breana Anderson-Burton rounded out the scoring in the long jump with a 5.49 meter performance, good enough to finish 10th overall.

Senior Aysha Moultrie, who sat in second place following the first four events of the heptathlon, finished strong to garner a third-place showing, finishing with a career-best 4,844 points, which improved her provisional qualifying standing by besting her previous heptathlon career-high of 4,558 points. Moultrie also notched a top-10 finish in the 200 meter dash, placing seventh at 25.02.

In the sprints, sophomore Ashley Reed took advantage of the quick track, running a career-best and provisional qualifying 100 meter dash time of 11.95 in the preliminaries, then placed fourth in the finals with a 12.04 showing. She would become the fourth Lion to notch a pair of top-10 finishes on the weekend, placing ninth in the 200 meter dash (25.22), settling in behind teammates Jakesia King (25.04) and Moultrie as King led all Lions by finishing sixth.

A&M-Commerce's relay teams also had strong showings as the 4x100 meter relay tied its second-lowest time of the year with a 47.11 mark before the 4x400 meter relay team set both a season-low and provisional qualifying time of 3:49.74 in the final event of the night.

Angelo State earned a dramatic finish, placing first in the 4x400 meter relay to finish the meet with 195.5 points, taking home their fourth-straight team title by besting second-place Abilene Christian (195) by a mere half a point, marking the closest margin of victory in Lone Star Conference history. West Texas A&M finished third (134) with Tarleton State (75) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (66.5) rounding out the top-five.

A&M-Commerce has one more chance to get some of its athletes represented at the national championships at the end of this month as a handful of Lions will head to San Antonio this week for the Incarnate Word Last Chance Meet on Thursday, May 10. A&M-Commerce will compete in hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Division II National Championships in Pueblo, Colo. May 25-28.

2012 Lone Star Conference Championships Results

100 Meter Dash Preliminaries
2. Angela Reed – 11.95*^
14. Jakesia King – 12.35

100 Meter Dash Finals
4. Angela Reed – 12.04

200 Meter Dash Finals
6. Jakesia King – 25.04
7. Aysha Moultrie – 25.05
9. Angela Reed – 25.22
15. K'Nycha Johnson – 25.87

400 Meter Dash Preliminaries
9. Ethel Ajanga – 57.80
10. Vanessa Jackson – 57.95
15. Brooke Odom – 59.18
16. Tyler Cottingham – 59.21

1,500 Meter Run
21. Brooke Farris – 5:04.29*

5,000 Meter Run
21. Jennifer Speer  - 20:03.43
23. Caroline Cotsakis – 20:16.15

4x100 Meter Relay
4. A&M-Commerce – 47.11^
Jakesia King, Angela Reed, K'Nycha Johnson, Vanessa Jackson

4x400 Meter Relay
5. A&M-Commerce – 3:49.74*^
Brooke Odom, Aysha Moultrie, Tyler Cottingham, Vanessa Jackson

Heptathlon
3. Aysha Moultrie – 4,844 points*^

Long Jump
2. Whitney Hargraves – 5.94m*^
8. Tierra Hill – 5.68m^
10. Breana Anderson-Burton – 5.49m

Triple Jump
2. Whitney Hargraves – 12.13m*^
5. Tierra Hill – 11.64m
13. Desiree Spencer – 10.45m
14. Taniqua Hawkins – 10.22m

Discus
1. Abagail Leaupepe-Tele – 45.18m^
8. Ashley Ross – 38.25m

Javelin
16. Abigail Leaupepe-Tele – 24.40m

Shot Put
9. Abigail Leaupepe-Tele – 11.96m