NACOGDOCHES – East Texas A&M University women's track and field student-athletes Peyton Berry and Kira van den Ham went 1-2 in the women's pole vault to start off the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships on Thursday at Homer Bryce Stadium.
 
Thursday began the three-day conference meet in Nacogdoches. The full results for day one can be found HERE.
 
Action rolls on Friday, live results can be found HERE, while the meet can be watched on ESPN+ beginning at 5 p.m. on the final two days HERE.
 
WOMEN
Both Berry (Argyle) and van den Ham (Bunnik, The Netherlands) cleared 12-8.25 (3.87m) in the women's pole vault as did UIW's Alaine Hernandez as the trio tied for the best mark. Berry cleared it in her first attempt, to be declared the winner, while van den Ham cleared the previous height, 3.77m in her first attempt to break the tie over Hernandez.
 
The Lion duo also went 1-2 at the indoor conference championships in the pole vault. Berry, a freshman, is the first Lion to sweep the pole vault titles in the same season since former All-American Minna Svaerd in 2021-22.
 
Two Lions also scored in the long jump, as Rivka Goede (Curacao) just missed the podium, placing fourth with a mark of 19-4.25 (5.90m). Tina Samson (Benin, Nigeria) jumped 18-10 (5.74m) for sixth.
 
In the preliminary races on the track, Anete Randma (Tallinn, Estonia) punched her ticket to the finals in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:33.62, while Kaat de Staercke (Zemst, Belgium) took 13^th with a time of 4:41.40, missing the finals by 0.35 seconds.
 
Samarah Green (Abilene – Cooper) took ninth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.81, missing the finals by 0.04 seconds. Niamh Le'Gall (Wallasey, England) clocked in at 23.79 seconds in the 200 meter dash to finish fifth and is through to the finals.
 
MEN
In the lone event that the Lion men scored on Thursday, Jonas Gran (Riehen, Switzerland) threw 192-2 (58.57m) for sixth in the javelin and Joshua Kommer (Balingen, Germany) had a mark of 185-9 (56.61m) for eighth.
 
On the track, Cheyne West (Rochester, England) is through to the finals with a time of 51.91 seconds for fourth in the 400 meter hurdles. East Texas A&M had the two fastest times in the 200 meter dash as Oguz Uyar (Cannakale, Turkey) timed 20.65 seconds for first and Enoch Fosuhene (Accra, Ghana) took second with a time of 20.67 seconds.
 
In the final race of the day, Jeremiah Garcia (Lubbock – Eaton) recorded a time of 31:45.09 for ninth in the 10,000 meter run, missing the top eight by .13 seconds.  
 
COMBINED EVENTS
Three Lions began the men's decathlon on Thursday. Gran is in fourth after the first five events with 3,690 points. He ended the day by recording a time of 49.36 seconds in the 400 meter dash, which was the second fastest in the 12-person field.
 
Joshua Nate (Geneva School of Boerne) is in seventh place with 3,339 points, taking third in the 400 meter dash with a time of 50.09 seconds. Kommer is in ninth place with 3,288 points, his best placement was in the shot put, recording a mark of 39-8 (12.09m) for sixth.
 
In the women's heptathlon, Samson totaled 2,893 points for 10^th, while Evelyn Cortes (Bogota, Columbia) is in 12^th place with a total of 2,777 points in the 19-person field after four events.
 
Samson threw 40-3.5 (12.28m) in the shot put, which was the second-best mark, while Cortes' mark of 37-10 (11.53m) was fifth.
 
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
The Lions scored 26 points as a team on Thursday, sitting in third place. SFA leads the way with 34.50 points.
 
Women's Team Scores (Through Four Events)

Place	Team	Points
1	SFA	34.50
2	A&M-Corpus Christi	27
3	EAST TEXAS A&M	26
4	Northwestern State	20.50
5	Lamar	18
6	UIW	12
7	McNeese	11
8	UTRGV	7

 
WOMEN'S POINT SCORERS

Name (s)	Event	Time/Mark	Place (Pts)
Peyton Berry	Pole Vault	12-8.25 (3.87m)	Champion (10 pts)
Kira van den Ham	Pole Vault	12-8.25 (3.87m)	Silver (8 pts)
Rivka Goede	Long Jump	19-4.25 (5.90m)	Fourth (5 pts)
Tina Samson	Long Jump	18-10 (5.74m)	Sixth (3 pts)

 
MEN'S TEAM SCORES
Gran and Kommer scored four points for the Lions in the javelin, which puts them in eighth after three events. A&M-Corpus Christi is in the lead with 35 points.
 
Men's Team Scores (Through Three Events)

Place	Team	Points
1	A&M-Corpus Christi	35
2	SFA	33
3	UIW	13
4	Lamar	11
5	Southeastern	8
5	UTRGV	8
7	McNeese	5
8	EAST TEXAS A&M	4

 
MEN'S POINT SCORERS

Name(s)	Event	Time/Mark	Place (Pts)
Jonas Gran	Javelin	192-2 (58.57m)	Sixth (3 pts)
Joshua Kommer	Javelin	185-9 (56.61m)	Eighth (1 pt)