BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – La'Shantena Rounds made McNeese State school history on Wednesday on the opening day of the 2014 Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships when she won gold in the weight throw to become the first female athlete to become a three-time indoor champion in field events.
The senior from Baton Rouge was joined on the championship podium by senior jumper Jasmine Cornelius, who defended her title in the women's long jump by claiming her second consecutive gold medal.
It's the first time in Cowgirl indoor history where two different athletes successfully defended their championships in separate events. Distance runner Sita Waru won back-to-back indoor titles in 2000 and 2001 in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs.
Through six scoring events on the day, the Cowboys are in fourth place with 22.5 points. Southeastern Louisiana leads the way with 56 points followed by Stephen F. Austin at 51 and Lamar with 26.
The Cowgirls are in a tie for fourth place with Lamar after the first day with 21 points trailing first place Stephen F. Austin who has 32, Sam Houston State with 29 and Central Arkansas at 27.
In addition to the two first places, sprinter Jasmine Webb clocked a new school record in the 60-meters in qualification with a time of 7.53 to break her own record of 7.59 set just three weeks ago. She'll go into Thursday's final with the fourth fastest qualifying time. She ran an indoor PR in the 200 meters of 24.75 to advance to Thursday's finals.
Rounds fell just 1 ½ inches short of the conference meet record with her championship throw of 67 feet, 0 inches to win the event my nearly eight feet. Fellow Cowgirl Ashlee Smith finished eighth in her first competition of the season with a heave of 55 feet, 0 ¼ inches to score a point.
Cornelius retained her gold medal in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 6 inches to win by 3 ½ inches. It was her longest jump of the season and fell just inches short of her own school record of 19 feet, 10 ¼ inches that she set while winning last year's title.
Other Cowgirl runners advancing to Thursday's finals include Amy Talbot in the mile run and the 800-meters and Jasmine George in the 60-meter hurdles.
On the men's side, the highest finish on the day went to distance runner Ryan Holroyd who took home a silver medal in the 5,000-meters after he ran a time of 14:56.26 and was just a half-second off the lead.
Kartavius Hamilton just missed out on the medal stand in the long jump with a fourth place finishing jump of 23 feet, 11 ½ inches, a PR.
The Cowboys had two throwers score points in the shot put event – Matt Simmons who finished sixth at 49 feet, 2 ½ inches, and Hiram Morales who placed seventh with a mark of 48 feet, 5 ¼ inches.
Dakota Breaux scored points in the pole vault by finishing sixth with a clearing of 15 feet, 1 inch to set a new PR.
The Cowboys also had several runners qualify for Thursday's finals. Oliver James had the fourth fastest time in the one-mile prelims with a time of 4:17.40 and will go for a medal on Thursday. He'll be joined in the race by Brock Moreaux who clocked a 4:18.31. Other finals qualifiers include Tristan Joynes in the 60-meter hurdles who ran an 8.31 to qualify at No. 3.
Cherby Laguerre qualified fifth in the 400-meters with an indoor PR time of 48.72 and was seventh in the 200-meters with a time of 21.83, another PR, and will compete in the finals in both events on Thursday.
The men's distance medley relay team made up of Luke Johnston, Cody Skarupa, Brock Moreaux and Alex Evans, scored two points after a seventh place finish with a time of 10:22.04.
The final events of the men's heptathlon will get things started on the final day at 8:30 Thursday morning. The women's triple jump will start the field events at 11 a.m. while the running events will get underway at noon with the women's 60-meter hurdle finals.
Men's Scoring:
1. Southeastern La. 56; 2. Stephen F. Austin 51; 3. Lamar 26; 4. McNeese State 22.5; 5. Sam Houston State 20.5; 6. Northwestern State 16; 7. Texas A&M-CC 15; T8. Central Arkansas 9; T8. Oral Roberts 9; 10. Incarnate Word 4; 11. Abilene Christian 3; 12. Houston Baptist 2.
Women's Scoring:
1. Stephen F. Austin 32; 2. Sam Houston State 29; 3. Central Arkansas 27; T4. McNeese State 21; T4. Lamar 21; 6. New Orleans 14; 7. Southeastern La. 12; 8. Houston Baptist 10; 9. Northwestern State 8; 10. Texas A&M-CC 7; 11. Nicholls 6; T12. Abilene Christian 4; T12. Incarnate