NORMAN, Okla. - Sophomore sprinter Samantha Calhoun set a new 60 m school standard, junior distance runner Lauren Jones did the same in the 5K and Juniors Jessica McLeod, Naomi Green, Marion Chebet and Kadi Whisnantclocked in with a school record time of 12:19.01 in the distance medley relay to claim third place All-Southland Conference honors and provide the biggest highlight for the Nicholls State University women's track and field team at the first day of the 2010 Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Oklahoma. "I'm very happy with all our girls," head coach Scott Williamson said. "They ran hard and competed as hard as they could. I'm extremely happy with our DMR team. We were seeded third, and we had to fight hard with Stephen F. Austin down the stretch to earn that finish. Sam ran very well in her races, both our milers making it through to tomorrow was huge, Rahjanaey Bailey getting into the finals of the 60 M hurdles was big for her, and Lauren ran as hard as she could and broke a school record, but it was just a crowded field in the 5K. Tomorrow, our girls will have a shot at winning some events and earning some all-conference honors, and that's our main goal for this meet." The Colonel DMR quartet rounded the track just over six seconds behind DMR champion Texas-San Antonio and just over two seconds behind second-place Texas State. The third-place finish gave Nicholls six points at the end of the first day of competition. The Colonels, a squad without any throwers or jumpers during the indoor season, will have to wait until Saturday before having any real chance to climb the team standings. Stephen F. Austin ran away and hid with the first day lead by totaling 62.5 points thanks to a dominant throws contingent. Texas State owns a distant second place ranking with 34 points with UTSA hot on the Bobcats' heels with 28 points. McNeese State (22), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (19), Texas-Arlington (18), Northwestern State (15.5), Sam Houston State (14) and Lamar (11) also find themselves ahead of the Colonels. Nicholls' six points leads Central Arkansas (4) and Southeastern La., the only women's squad to fail to score a point on day one. With the finals of most of the running events on tap, the Colonels hope a strong second day surge can propel them past last season's school record tenth-place finish at the league indoor meet. Sophomore sprinter Samantha Calhoun remains the Colonels best threat to score in multiple events, as Nicholls' school record holder in the 60 m and 200 m advanced to Saturday's finals in both events. The Morgan City, La. native turned in the third-best preliminary time in the 60 with a time of 7.60. Calhoun bettered her own school record in the 60 m by 0.02, and set a new school standard in the event for the third time this season. Calhoun will also look to score for the Colonels in the 200 m after posting the sixth-best time in the prelims with a 25.20 showing. Bailey is the only other power running athlete to advance to the finals for the Colonels after clocking in with a personal best time of 9.07 in the 60 m hurdles. Bailey posted the 11th-fastest preliminary time on Friday, but will try to climb into point-scoring contention on Saturday. Junior Lauren Jones was the other Colonel record-setter on Friday, posting a school record 5K time of 18:25.62. The Centreville, Iowa native's time was nearly nine seconds better than the previous mark of 18:34.00. Unfortunately, for the Colonels, the Southland lived up to it's reputation as one of the deepest women's distance running conference in the nation, as Jones' time was good enough for a tenth-place finish, but not enough for a top-eight, point-scoring finish. The Colonels' DMR crew gave the Colonels momentum heading into Saturday with their school record showing in the day's final event to nab a six-point third-place performance that also netted the squad all-conference honors. Nicholls will look to their distance crews once again to keep them in contention for their best ever team finish at the league meet. Whisnant and Brea Goodman both clocked in with top ten times in the preliminary running of the mile. Whisnant turned in a ninth-place showing of 5:14.68 while Goodman clocked in with a tenth-place time of 5:14.81. The duo will look to score critical points in the finals of Saturday's mile. Also looking to help the Colonel cause is freshman Dakota Goodman, who is slated to line up for the 3K and ranks eighth in that event.