MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The ULM women’s track and field team scored 14 points and sits in sixth-place and the ULM men’s track and field team scored 15 points and holds seventh-place after Saturday’s (Feb. 27) first day of competition at the Sun Belt Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Junior Lakeitha Elmore finished second in the shot put, scoring eight points, with a top throw of 14.72m (48-3 1/2). Middle Tennessee’s Brittany Cox claimed the shot put conference championship with a throw of 14.92m (48-11 1/2).
ULM had a pair of scorers in the pentathlon, junior Aleesha Mullen took fifth, scoring 3,325 points, and freshman Nefertiti Beckett earned seventh with 3,214 points. Mullen’s won the shot put in the pentathlon with a best effort of 11.61m (38-1 1/4), she also took fourth in the 55-meter dash, clocking in with a time of 8.54 seconds. Beckett finished second in the high jump, clearing 1.59m (5-2 1/2) and also earned fourth-place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:34.92.
Sophomore Luther Ambrose scored four points for the Warhawks with a fifth-place finish in the long jump. Ambrose posted a season-best leap of 7.20m (23-7 1/2), nearly a half-meter better than his previous season-high. Stanley Gbagbeke of Middle Tennessee took the long jump crown with a leap of 7.73m (25-4 1/2).
In the men’s shot put, sophomore Derek Dark scored six points for ULM with a third-place finish. Dark threw a season-best 15.93m (52-3 1/4) to claim third. Brian Soverns of Western Kentucky won the event with a top throw of 16.46m (54-0).
ULM claimed fifth-place in the men’s distance medley relay, clocking in with a time of 10:22.49, scoring four points. South Alabama took first-place in the DMR with a time of 10:07.90.
Freshman Clint Broussard scored in the high jump for ULM with an eighth-place effort of 1.89m (6-2 1/4). Antwain Keyes of Louisiana-Lafayette won the high jump with by clearing 1.99m (6-6 1/4).
Halfway through the heptathlon competition, junior Ruslan Hemed stands in sixth-place with 2,599 points. Hemed’s best event on day one of the heptathlon was shot put where he finished second with a top throw of 11.94m (39-2 1/4). He also finished third in the long jump with a best jump of 6.60m (21-8).
A number of Warhawks also qualified for event finals during preliminary heats on Saturday. Ambrose qualified third-fastest in the 55 meters with a time of 6.35 seconds. Freshman Dimitri Hampton qualified for the final of the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.95, the eighth-fastest qualifying time. Sophomore Keyon Jones was the fourth-best qualifier in the 400 meters with a time of 49.18; Hampton also qualified in the 400 with a time of 49.49, ninth-best in the prelims.
Freshman Devin Caldwell ran the seventh-best qualifying time in the 800 meters, 1:56.48, to advance to the finals; senior Andrew Opata also reached the 800 final with a qualifying effort of 1:57.44. Junior Jarvis Mansfield ran the qualifier of the 55-meter hurdles in 7.59 to advance to the finals. All of those event finals will take place on Sunday.
Sunday’s (Feb. 28) final day of competition at the Sun Belt Indoor Track and Field Championship will begin at 8 a.m. with the 55-meter hurdles of the heptathlon.
Day One Standings
Men
1. Western Kentucky, 40
2. Louisiana-Lafayette, 37
3. Middle Tennessee, 29
4. Arkansas State, 26
5. South Alabama, 21
6. North Texas, 18
7. ULM, 15
8. UALR, 8
9. Florida International, 1
Women
1. Western Kentucky, 68.33
2. Middle Tennessee, 57
3. Arkansas State, 42
4. North Texas, 29.33
5. South Alabama, 17
6. ULM, 14
7. Florida Atlantic, 13.5
8. UALR, 13
9. Troy, 10.33
10. Florida International, 5
11. Louisiana-Lafayette, 3.5