COMMERCE – Nikita Strogalev and Tamara Susa reached the podium on the first day of the Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday for the Texas A&M University-Commerce track & field team at Memorial Stadium.
 
Strogalev (Kiev, Ukraine) took gold in the men's pole vault and Susa (Novi Sad, Serbia) took silver in the women's javelin. Several Lions made their way into the finals as well as both Trey Wheeler (Scurry-Rosser) and Elizabeth Ortiz (Palacios) completed the first day of the combined events.
 
Day one results can be found HERE.

INTERVIEW WITH COACH GEORGE PINCOCK

COMBINED EVENTS
Wheeler sits in sixth place in the men's decathlon going into the final day. He took third in the high jump with a mark of 5-10.75 (1.80m), finishing in the top six in every event.
 
Ortiz is in third place in the women's heptathlon. She finished second in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.78 seconds and second in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.40 seconds.
 
MEN
Strogalev cleared 16 feet 4.75 inches (5.0m) in his first attempt to secure the conference championship. He cleared 16 feet 2.75 inches (4.95m) in the first attempt as well.
 
Alex Speer (Robinson) closed out the day with a time of 31:48.34 in the 10,000 meter run to place sixth. 
 
In the track preliminary events, Casey Novelo (Bedford – Trinity) and Nicholas Deutsch (Frisco) are through to the finals in the men's 1,500 meter run with times of 3:58.85 and 3:59.05, respectively.
 
The Lions had the top two times in the 200 meter dash. Delan Edwin (Castries, Saint Lucia) had the fastest time at 20.54 seconds, which is a new Saint Lucia national record. J.T. Smith (Klein Oak) finished second overall with a time of 21.07 seconds.
 
Axel Paolucci had the second fastest time among all student-athletes in the 400 meter hurdles to punch his ticket to the finals. He ran a time of 52.70 seconds.
 
MEN'S POINT SCORERS

Name	Event	Mark	Place (Pts)
Nikita Strogalev	Pole Vault	16-4.75 (5.0m)	Champion (10 pts)
Alex Speer	10,000 Meter Run	31:48.34	Sixth (3 Pts)

 
MEN'S STANDINGS (Through 3 of 21 events)

1	UIW	35
2	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	24
3	McNeese	19
4	Southeastern	15
5	A&M-COMMERCE	13
6	New Orleans	6
7	Northwestern State	4
8	HCU	1
-	Lamar	NTS
-	Nicholls	NTS

 
WOMEN
Susa threw 144 feet six inches (44.05m) in her fourth attempt to move into second. She has been the conference runner up in the event in each of the last two seasons.
 
In the prelims, Leah Pettis (McKinney North) ran a time of 24.21 seconds to place sixth in the 200 meter dash and qualifies for the finals.
 
Naomi Ndukwe (Perserville, France) and Maia Maury (Noisy-Le-Grand, France) are through to the finals in the 400 meter hurdles. Ndukwe timed 59.47 seconds for second overall and Maury timed 1:01.73 for fourth overall.
 
WOMEN'S POINT SCORERS

Name	Event	Mark	Place (Pts)
Tamara Susa	Javelin	144-6 (44.05m)	Silver (8 pts)

 
WOMEN'S STANDINGS (4 of 21 events)

1	McNeese	42
2	Northwestern State	25
3	UIW	22
4	New Orleans	17
5	Lamar	14
6	Southeastern	13
7	Nicholls	10
8	A&M-COMMERCE	8
9	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	4
10	HCU	1

 
The combined events finish out on Friday as well the finals of the shot put, long jump, and steeplechase. The rest of the preliminary races take place on Friday night as well.