NATCHITOCHES, La. – Southeastern Louisiana senior Judith Schultheisposted two of the Lady Lions' five All-Southland performances on the final day of the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships Sunday at the Walter Ledet Track Complex on the campus of Northwestern State University.
The Lady Lions scored 49.5 points on the final day and jumped three spots into eighth place, finishing with 52.5 points. The men's team also finished in eighth with a meet total of 41.5 points.
“We did some positive things this weekend,” Southeastern head coachSean Brady commented. “But, overall this is not where we wanted to finish. We took a very young team to this meet that included 24 student-athletes competing in their first Southland outdoor meet.
“The most encouraging thing to come out of this weekend is that we had some of those new additions score fairly well for us,” Brady said. “We have already signed several key recruits to go with our returning young corps. When you combine the added experience we have and the opening of our new facility, we're very excited about the future of our program.”
Schultheis accounted for 12 points with third place finishes in the 100 meter hurdles and the 400 meter hurdles. The Gretna native finished with a time of 13.93 in the 100, while posting a time of 1:01.19 in the 400.
The 400-meter hurdles was the most productive event for the Lady Lions, as freshman Alicia Noel earned seven points with a second-place All-Southland performance, finishing with a time of 1:00.46. Freshman Tess Mullings finished sixth with a time of 1:02.87 to earn six points.
Southeastern sophomore Brittany Pfantz also picked up All-Southland accolades in the pole vault, finishing second by clearing a distance of 12 feet, 5.5 inches (3.80 meters). Rounding out the Southeastern All-Southland performers was junior Michelle Ogashi, who notched a third-place finish in the triple jump with a 40-3.5 feet (12.28 meters) showing.
Among the other scorers for the Lady Lions on Sunday were sophomoreJessica Fekete (6th, hammer throw), junior Tamra Grayson (5th, 400 meters), freshman Colleen Butler (5th, pole vault) and the 4x400 relay team of Noel, Gryason, Mullings and Schultheis (7th).
Freshman Tavoris Mack led the Southeastern effort on the men's side, finishing fourth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 54.31 seconds. Seniors Kovey Simmons (pole vault) and Michael Rheams (triple jump) each finished fifth.
Other scorers on Sunday for the Lions included sophomore Seth Cunningham (800 meters, 6th), sophomore Abram Taylor (400 meter hurdles, 7th), the 4x100 relay team of freshman Jordan Rosemond, Rheams, freshman Brandon Daniels and senior Jerel Butler (8th) and freshman Cameron Lawrence, Butler, freshman Shaquille Brown and Mack in the 4x400 (7th).
Stephen F. Austin swept the men's and women's championships. The Ladyjacks won for the third straight year with 164 points, while the men's team unseated defending champion UTSA with 162 points.
Several Southeastern student-athletes will advance to compete in the NCAA East Preliminary Round, scheduled for May 26-28 in Bloomington, Ind. Brady believes that Simmons (pole vault), Pfantz (pole vault), Rheams (triple jump) and Ogashi (triple jump) will earn invites based on their spots in the national rankings, while Schultheis (400 meter hurdles), Noel (400 meter hurdles) and sophomore Chelsey Steele (javelin) also could earn a spot.
2011 Southland Conference Outdoor Championships
Men's Final Standings
1. Stephen F. Austin – 162
2. UTSA – 146
3. UT Arlington – 127.5
4. Sam Houston State – 113
5. McNeese State – 61.5
6. Northwestern State – 51
7. Texas State – 45.5
8. Southeastern Louisiana – 41.5
9. Central Arkansas – 26
10. Lamar – 23
11. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 22
Women's Final Standings
1. Stephen F. Austin – 164
2. Northwestern State – 102
3. Sam Houston State – 85.5
4. Texas State – 82.0
5. UT Arlington – 72.0
6. UTSA – 67.5
7. Nicholls – 64
8. Southeastern Louisiana – 52.5
9. McNeese State – 44
10. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 37
11. Lamar – 31
12. Central Arkansas – 17.5