Carruthers, Distance Medley Place for Colonels at Southland Championships

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Junior Tessni Carruthers ran a sub-five minute mile for the second straight meet to earn second place and the distance medley team recorded its second-fastest time in program history to finish third, as Nicholls State University women's track team completed its indoor season at the 2014 Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, held Wednesday and Thursday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Carruthers crossed the tape in a time of 4:57.89, missing gold by just 26-hundrenths of a second behind Lamar's Kayla DeBondt. Carruthers, who ran a 4:57.01 last week in the LSU Twilight, qualified for the event after posting a 5:03.61 in Wednesday's preliminaries.

A native of British Columbia, Carruthers also helped the Colonels earn a bronze in the distance medley relay. The team of Jackie WhitePrecious SemienAshley Johnson and Carruthers finished with a 12:00.66 in the event, missing the school record by 1.15 seconds. Lamar took the medley with a time of 11:49.43.

As a team, Nicholls ended the event with 17 points, finishing 12th out of 14. Sam Houston State claimed the women's title, edging Stephen F. Austin 132-124.