Simmons Leads Southeastern at McNeese Indoor II

 LAKE CHARLES – Southeastern Louisiana junior Kovey Simmons won the pole vault, clearing a school-record 5.05 meters and was one of 19 Southeastern student-athletes to post Southland Conference Indoor Championship standards at the Jeff Davis McNeese Indoor II Saturday at the McNeese State Recreation Complex. 

Southeastern head coach Sean Brady was very pleased with his teams’ efforts in the third indoor meet of the season. 

“Overall, this was a great meet for us,” Brady commented. “This was a meet where we felt we should do very well and we accomplished what we wanted to do for the most part. The cold weather we’ve had the past several days helped our kids get some much needed rest.

“The biggest positive coming out of today’s meet was the amount of athletes we had post Southland Conference qualifying standards,” Brady added. “We’re getting better each meet and we have to continue to train hard and get ready to head to LSU in two weeks.”

Simmons was one of five Lions to win individual events on Saturday. Senior Henry Rop won the 3,000 meter run with a Southland-qualifying time of 8:48.56. Although they didn’t post qualifying standards, sophomore Abram Taylor (55-meter hurdles) and freshman Antonio Herbert (200 meters) also picked up wins on Saturday.

Senior All-American Adonson Shallow picked up wins in both the shot put and weight throw. But it was two throws that didn’t count that were the most impressive, according to Brady.

“Adonson was outstanding once again today,” Brady said. “First, he threw one that hit the rafters and broke a light. Then, he sent one out of the sector that cleared the throwing area and broke a popcorn machine. Adonson is a one of a kind talent and basically McNeese’s facility wasn’t built for someone who can throw as far as he can.”

On the women’s side, freshman Colleen Butler and sophomore Brittany Pfantz were the top collegiate finishers in the pole vault, as both cleared 3.50 meters. The only person to out-perform the Lady Lion duo was former Southeastern assistant coach and 2008 Olympian Erica Bartolina.

Sophomores Shalicia Rochon and Jessica Fekete, along with Shallow and freshman Phillippe Moore, were the only Southeastern student-athletes to post Southland qualifying performances in multiple events. Both qualified in the shot put and weight throw. 

Other Lady Lions to qualify for the Southland Conference Championships, which are scheduled for Feb. 24-26 in Norman, Okla., included freshman Tess Mullings (400 meters), freshman Nia Stewart(long jump), senior Judith Schultheis (triple jump), junior Petra Poznic(shot put) and junior Renada Living (weight throw). 

Joining Shallow and Rop among the men’s Southland qualifiers were sophomore Seth Cunningham (800 meters), senior Reese Lee (mile run), sophomore Johnel Reams (high jump), senior Andrew Pennington(pole vault), senior Michael Rheams (triple jump), sophomore Brandon Daniels (triple jump) and Moore (triple jump and long jump).

Southeastern will have one last meet to prepare for league competition. The Lions and Lady Lions will be in Baton Rouge on Feb. 18 to compete in the LSU Twilight Meet.