Feb. 17, 2007

HOUSTON - The Lamar University men's and women's track and field teams closed out the Southland Conference Indoor Championship at the Yeoman Field House at the University of Houston on Saturday, with the Lady Cardinals posting a fifth place finish with 84.14 points, while the men's team came in sixth place with 60 points.

Clerc Koenck of the women's team was the individual high-point score in the women's division with 22.5 points, while Francis Kasagule of the men's team earned the same distinction with 22.5 points of his own.

The men's and women's teams both started Saturday's running events with a bang, taking first and second place in the men's and women's mile run's, while placing three runners in the top eight in both races.

Clerc Koenck notched her first victory of the day with a Lamar University record 4:51.66 performance, while Amanda King took second place with a personal-best time of 4:55.42. Rachel Kingsford also finished strong for Lamar, posting a fourth place finish with a personal-best time of 5:07.12.

Not to be outdone, the Cardinal men also turned in a fine effort in the mile, as Francis Kasagule notched his first victory of the day with a 4:14.78, while Danny Shaw grabbed second place with a season-best time of 4:15.78. Ewan Simpson also had a strong run, coming in fifth place with a time of 4:18.43.

The next event of the day was the women's 60-meter hurdles, and the Lady Cardinals represented well, placing two runners in the top seven. Jessika Johnson notched a fourth place finish with a season-best time of 8.79, while Adrianne Johnson ran a 9.00 for seventh place.

In the men's 60 meter dash, Michael Gauthier picked up the only individual top eight finish for the Cardinal sprinters, as he glided to a fifth place finish with a 6.90 performance.

Brittany Pollard followed Gauthier's 60-meter performance with an eighth place finish in the women's 400 meter dash, running a personal-best 57.76. Andrea Smith then grabbed a seventh place finish for the Lady Cardinals in the women's 800 meter run, posting a time of 2:22.04.

In the women's 3,000 meter run the Lamar women took first, second and third place. Koenck continued her dominance of the SLC, as she claimed championship number two of the day with a 9:49.08 performance. King picked up her second runner up finish of the meet with a 9:52.52, while Renee Graham came in third with a time of 9:54.64. Stacey Monteau also finished string, grabbing eighth place in a time of 10:23.30.

In the men's 3,000 meter run Kasagule used a 27-second last lap to slip past Shadrack Songok of Texas A&M Corpus Christi in a time of 8:17.33, while Songok posted an 8:17.70. The two runners, who raced to a photo finish in the distance medley relay on Friday night, finished 1:09 faster than the third place finisher.

Danny Shaw and Frank Bwambale also had solid showings in the 3,000, posting fifth and seventh place finishes in times of 8:29.94 and 8:31.30 respectively.

To close out the meet the women's 1,600 meter relay team consisting of Pollard, Secret Thomas, Kayla LeBlanc and Alexandra Mayfield raced to a sixth place finish in a time of 3:59.25, while the men's team of Andy Haeggquist, Gauthier, Obie Iredia and Stephen Boon came in seventh place in a time of 3:23.94.

Lamar track will be in action again when they open the outdoor season on March 2, at the Northwestern Relays in Natchitoches, La.

SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM SCORING:

MEN

1, Texas-San Antonio 114.50. 2, Texas-Arlington 98. 3, Stephen F. Austin 82.5. 4, Sam Houston State 66. 5, Southeastern Louisiana 63. 6, Lamar. 60. 7, Texas State 57.5. 8, McNeese State 38.5. 9, Northwestern State 32. 9, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 32. 11, Central Arkansas 19.

WOMEN

1, Sam Houston State 135. 2, Texas State 112.92. 3, Texas-Arlington 98.14. 4, Stephen F. Austin 85.28. 5, Lamar 84.14. 6, Texas-San Antonio 67. 7, Northwestern State 34.5. 8, Southeastern Louisiana 28. 9, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 12. 10, Nicholls State 4. 11, McNeese State 2. 12, Central Arkansas DNS.