A second place by David Rooney and third places by Mariah Georgetown and Amy Talbot highlighted McNeese State's performance Saturday at the annual Southland Conference indoor track and field championship.
Rooney, who had won the 5,000 meter run on Friday, finished second in the 3000 meters on Saturday, posting an 8:23.09 clocking. Georgetown broke her own school record by running 8.61 for a third place finish in the 60 hurdles and Talbot took third in the mile run with a 5:03 effort. The Cowboys finished sixth in the men's division with 38 points and the Cowgirls finished 11th in the women's category with 28 points. UTSA won the men's title with 153 points and was followed by UTA (111), SFA (105.5), Sam Houston State (80), Lamar (46), Central Arkansas (37.5), Texas State (34), SE Louisiana (32), Northwestern State (14) and TAM-Corpus (12). SFA took the women's crown with 115.5 points and was followed by UTA (97), UTSA (68), Texas State (62.5), Northwestern State (55), Sam Houston State (55), TAM-Corpus (49), Nicholls (46), Lamar (44), SE Louisiana (33) and Central Arkansas (10). "We moved up one place in the men's division," head coach Brendon Gilroy said, adding that he thought the team had some good performances. He also noted that the Cowgirls were hurt with the lack of participants due to injuries. Top five finishes by Cowboys were recorded by Charles Jackson with a fourth place in the 60 meter dash (6.82) and by Joshua Sawe in the mile run (4:16.22). Also for the men, Sawe placed sixth in the 3000 meters at 8:35.85, Thomas Canchola finished ninth in the shot put at 52-1, Xavier Stephens was ninth in the triple jump at 47-7 ¾ and the 4x400 relay team of Jackson, Michael Washington, Darren Keyes and Torian Lindsey ran eighth with a 3:24.40 clocking. Other performances for the Cowgirls had Jacqueline Berry placing sixth in the triple jump at 39-8 ½, Ashleigh finishing sixth in the 200 metgers (25.20) and 10th in the 60 meters (7.70), DeAnn Washington placing eighth in the shot put (44-6 ¾), Ashlee Smith taking 11th in the shot (43-1), Alvy Carragher finishing 12th in the 3000 meters (10:22.63) and the 4x400 relay rteam of Wells, Georgetown, Desarae Couthren and Jasmine Cornelius running ninth at 3:58.38.