Feb. 16, 2007

HOUSTON, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin men and women's track and field teams are currently first after day one of competition at the Southland Conference Championships in Houston. The Ladyjacks scored 56 points Friday to lead Texas State by 14. The `Jacks lead Texas-Arlington by a score of 46.5 - 38.

SFA jumped out to an early lead behind a dominating performance in the high jump. Junior Meghan Denman won the women's event with a jump of 5-7.75. Classmate Audrey Azu also scored in the event finishing fifth (5-5.25). Junior Justin Reyes completed the sweep when he cleared a height of 6-9.50 for the victory. Ryder Peacock recorded a fifth-place finish, with his mark of 6-7.50.

The SFA men also recorded an individual title in the long jump. Newcomer Sumbo Adeniran won the event with his jump of 24-4.25. Junior Darwin Johnson also earned all-conference honors Friday in the weight throw. Johnson recorded a throw of 59-11.00 to finish third in the event. Freshman Matt Langdon scored points for SFA in the event with his fifth-place finish (54-1.25).

Sophomore Amie Morton continued the point parade for SFA in the women's 5,000 meters. Morton earned All-SLC honors with her runner-up finish in the event. She recorded a time of 17:16.18 in the event.

Junior Markeshia Edwards led a Ladyjack trio of scorers in the women's weight throw. Edwards finished second to earn all-conference honors with her throw of 56-9.25. Freshman Frednisha Marshall recorded a fifth-place finish in the event with her throw of 54-4.50. Marshall's throw was just good enough to edge out LaQuisha Houston, who finished sixth overall (52-9.50).

Junior Leah Matthews earned all-conference honors with her third-place finish in the pentathlon. She scored 3,319 points to edge out freshman Tabitha Riley who finish fourth with 3,286 points.

Other SFA notables from Friday's competition are Geoffrey Carey and Alecia Green. Carey recorded a sixth-place finish in the pole vault (16-0.75), while Green recorded a jump of 18-6.50 to finish fifth in the women's long jump. Senior Cody Clark finished fifth in the men's 5,000 meters (14:57.64), just beating out teammate Keith Mahipala who recorded a time of 15:04.78.

SFA also recorded top five finishes from its distance medley relay. The Ladyjacks finished fifth with a time of 12:28.92, while the `Jacks recorded a time of 10:23.50.

SFA returns to action Saturday with the conclusion of the heptathlon. The field events will get under way at 11 a.m., while the running events are scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.

-SFA-