BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Micky Ferdinand and Maia Maury reached the podium for the Texas A&M University-Commerce track and field teams on Sunday at the Birmingham Crossplex as the Lions took part in the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships for the first time.
 
The Lion men sit in fifth place after the first day of action, with several athletes qualifying for finals on Monday. The Lion women are eighth going into the final day of the meet.
 
Maury (Noisy-Le-Grand, France) started the conference championships by taking third in the pentathlon with a school-record point total and tied the high jump school record during the event as well. Ferdinand (Micoud, Saint Lucia) reached the podium in the high jump and the pole vault, with an opportunity for one more on Monday.

COACH GEORGE PINCOCK'S THOUGHTS
 
Full results for Sunday's events can be found HERE. Action resumes in Birmingham on Monday morning at 9 a.m. with the men's heptathlon.
 
MEN
Ferdinand leads the heptathlon after the first day. He scored 3,171 points on Sunday, holding a 147-point lead with three events to go on Monday. Ferdinand cleared 6 feet 11.75 inches (2.13m) for the top spot in the high jump, tying the Southland Indoor Championships meet record for high jump within the heptathlon. Trey Wheeler (Scurry-Rosser) sits in 10^th with 2,309 points.
 
Ferdinand continued his eventful day with a third place finish the pole vault, by clearing 15 feet 7 inches (4.75m). He also competed in the high jump simultaneously and secured a silver medal by clearing 7 feet 1 inch (2.16m). Tyke Owens (Frisco – Lebanon Trail) cleared 6 feet 8.25 inches (2.04m) for a tie for fifth but had the edge in the tiebreaker to collect four points.
 
In the final event of day one of the conference championships, the Lion quartet of Josh Schutter (Sachse), Adrian Taylor (Cape Town, South Africa), Jan Lenfert (Buckenhof, Germany), and Nicholas Deutsch (Frisco) timed 10:19.01 in the distance medley relay for fifth place.
 
MEN'S POINT SCORERS

Student-Athlete	Event	Mark	Place (Points)
Micky Ferdinand	High Jump	7-01 (2.16m)	Silver (8)
Micky Ferdinand	Pole Vault	15-07 (4.75m)	Bronze (6)
Tyke Owens	High Jump	6-8.25 (2.04m)	Fifth (4)
Josh Schutter, Adrian Taylor, Jan Lenfert, Nicholas Deutsch	Distance Medley Relay	10:19.01	Fifth (4)

 
In Sunday's prelims action, the Lions qualified four of the eight spots in the 60 meter dash with J.T. Smith (Klein Oak), Delan Edwin (Castries, Saint Lucia), Ibrahim Fuseini (Accra, Ghana), and Emmanuel Agenor (Spanishtown, Jamaica) advancing to the finals. Smith and Edwin also qualified for the 200 meter dash finals.
 
Casey Novelo (Bedford – Trinity) qualified for the one mile run final and Conner Stockerl (The Woodlands) punched his ticket for the 400 meter dash finals.
 
WOMEN
Maury cleared 5 feet 7.25 inches (1.71m) in the high jump during the pentathlon, which tied the school record. She was in fifth place going into the final event of the day and went on to finish first in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:20.97 to move into third place and broke the school record with 3,622 points. The previous school record was Chelsea Cheek's 3,531 points in 2019.
 
In the pole vault, Destiny Skidmore (Marshfield, Mo.) cleared 10 feet (3.05m) to finish in a four-way tie, but thanks to a tiebreaker, she placed eighth and secured a point for the Lions.
 
To close out the day, the Lions distance medley relay team of Cailey Johnson (Winchester, Va.), Elizabeth Ortiz (Palacios), Alondra Campa (Kaufman), and Nour Almasri (Mansfield Summit) timed 13:22.36 for eighth place and brought home another point.
 
WOMEN'S POINT SCORERS

Student-Athlete(s)	Event	Mark	Place (Points)
Maia Maury	Pentathlon	3,622 points (School Record)	Bronze (6)
Destiny Skidmore	Pole Vault	10-0 (3.05m)	Eighth (1)
Cailey Johnson, Elizabeth Ortiz, Alondra Campa, Nour Almasri	Distance Medley	13:22.36	Eighth (1)

 
In the preliminary races, Sofia Khenfar (Lyon, France) and Leah Pettis (McKinney North) qualified for the 60 meter dash finals. The duo is also through to the finals for the 200 meter dash. Mariana Shostak (Lviv, Ukraine) made her season debut in the 400 meter dash and is through to the finals, as is Naomi Ndukwe (Perserville, France).
 
MEN'S STANDINGS (6 of 17 events)

Place	School	Total
1	UIW	70.5
2	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	41
3	Northwestern State	30
4	Southeastern	24
5	A&M-COMMERCE	22
6	Lamar	19
7	Houston Christian	11.5
8	New Orleans	10
9	McNeese	6
10	Nicholls	0

 
WOMEN'S STANDINGS (6 of 17 events)

Place	School Total
1	Incarnate Word	55
2	Lamar	41
3	McNeese	37
4	New Orleans	30
5	Houston Christian	24
6	Northwestern State	20
7	Southeastern	12
8	A&M-COMMERCE	8
9	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	5
10	Nicholls	2