BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The East Texas A&M University track and field team won four Southland Conference titles and swept the freshman of the year awards to cap off the Indoor Conference Championships as the Lion women finished fourth and the men took seventh on Thursday at the CrossPlex.
The Lion women recorded their best finish since joining the Southland with 79 points for fourth, while the Lion men totaled 45.5 points for a seventh-place finish.
Peyton Berry (Argyle) won the women's pole vault title on Wednesday, she was joined on Thursday by
Jenneil Jacobie (Piat Grand Rivière, Saint Lucia) in the women's high jump,
Cheyne West (Rochester, England) in the men's 60 meter hurdles, and
Myles Redding (Waco – University) in the men's 400 meter hurdles as SLC Champions.
West finished the meet with 11.25 points, being named the Southland Men's Freshman of the Year, while
Amara Idinna (Viry-Châtillon, France) was named the Southland Women's Freshman of the Year, totaling 14 points.
For the first time in the NCAA Division I era, the Lions are eligible to be selected to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The selections for the meet in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on March 13-14, will be announced next week.
POST MEET INTERVIEW
WOMEN
The Lions went 1-2 in the high jump as Jacobie cleared 5-8.75 (1.75m) for the Southland title, her first indoor crown and second time she finished on the podium at the indoor championships. She still remains ranked No. 8 in the country.
Idinna took second by clearing 5-7.75 (1.72m) in the high jump before beginning the day on the track for the Lion women with a third-place finish in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.48 seconds.
In the one-mile run,
Anete Randma (Tallinn, Estonia) ran a new school record time of 4:48.55 for fourth place. Randma also scored in the 800 meter run, with a time of 2:13.44 for sixth and
Mareva Heck (Marseille, France) took eighth with a time of 2:15.53.
Niamh Le'Gall (Wallasey, England) came in fourth with a time of 54.77 seconds in the 400 meter dash. She clocked in at 24.16 seconds for fifth in the 200 meter dash.
To close out the meet, Le'Gall,
Savannah Harvey (Shawnee, Kan.),
Samarah Green (Abilene – Cooper), and
Sydnee Wilson (Lewisville) clocked in at 3:51.40 for sixth in the 4x400 meter relays.
MEN
West blazed to a gold medal in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 7.91 seconds to start the day in his first collegiate conference championships. Redding won the 400 meter dash with a new personal-best time of 46.66 seconds.
Two Lions scored in the 60 meter dash as
Kingsley Ayebide (Burutu, Nigeria) and
Enoch Fosuhene (Accra, Ghana) went 6-7 with times of 6.769 and 6.79 seconds, respectively. Fosuhene also took seventh in the 200 meter dash, timing 21.61 seconds.
West,
Christian James (Rosharon – Manvel),
Oguz Uyar (Cannakale, Turkey), and Redding nearly missed the podium to end the meet, taking fourth with a time of 3:13.26 in the 4x400 meter relay.
The men's heptathlon concluded on Thursday as
Jonas Gran (Riehen, Switzerland) took fifth with 4,939 points.
Joshua Nate (Geneva School of Boerne) placed ninth with 4,300 points.
Over in the field events,
Collin Lusk (Fort Worth – Chisholm Trail) placed sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 48-1.75 (14.67m).
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
UTRGV won its first Southland indoor title, beating SFA by 22 points. The Lions' 79 points were one-point ahead of A&M-Corpus Christi.
Women's Team Scores
| Place |
Team |
Points |
| 1 |
UTRGV |
128 |
| 2 |
SFA |
106 |
| 3 |
Northwestern State |
99.5 |
| 4 |
East Texas A&M |
79 |
| 5 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
78 |
| 6 |
Lamar |
53 |
| 7 |
UIW |
39.5 |
| 8 |
McNeese |
31 |
| 9 |
Southeastern |
21 |
| 10 |
HCU |
17 |
| 11 |
Nicholls |
8 |
| 12 |
New Orleans |
3 |
WOMEN'S POINT SCORERS
MEN'S TEAM SCORES
SFA repeated as the Southland Conference indoor champion, having also won the cross country championship earlier this season. The Lumberjacks recorded 157 points, while Northwestern State posted 123 points for second.
The Lions' 45.5 points put them in seventh, 3.5 points back of Lamar and McNeese was eighth with 28 points.
| Place |
Team |
Points |
| 1 |
SFA |
157 |
| 2 |
Northwestern State |
123 |
| 3 |
UIW |
96.5 |
| 4 |
UTRGV |
61 |
| 5 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
60 |
| 6 |
Lamar |
49 |
| 7 |
East Texas A&M |
45.5 |
| 8 |
McNeese |
28 |
| 9 |
HCU |
22 |
| 10 |
Southeastern |
14 |
| 11 |
New Orleans |
6 |
MEN'S POINT SCORERS
-ETAMU-
