HONOLULU, Hawai'i - Louisiana Tech's women's track and field team rallied from fourth to overtake the lead in the second-to-last event of the meet as the Lady Techsters laid claim to their seventh consecutive title at the Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships late Friday in Honolulu. The men's program finished a solid third with 123 points.
The Lady Techsters scored 118 points on the final day to post 152 points overall for the win and were propelled in the second-to-last event of the day as four seniors scored a combined 27 points in the triple jump to give LA Tech its first lead of the meet.
Chelsea Hayes again proved almost unbeatable on the track in the league as she won three gold medals and was named the WAC Female Track Athlete of the Year and the WAC Female High Point Scorer. Gary Stanley was named the women's Coach of the Year, his seventh outdoor accolade since Louisiana Tech joined the WAC.
On the men's side, Ruston native and senior Larry Jones was named the Field Athlete of the Year while Ruston native and freshman Trey Hadnot was named the WAC Men's Track Athlete of the Year and WAC Men's Freshman of the Year. Hadnot and Jones are both products of Ruston High School.
In the women's triple jump, Brittany Guy jumped 41-4.5 to claim her first individual WAC title while Quatisha Williams jumped 40-9.75 to place second. Markeva Daye's mark of 39-3 placed her fourth while Sapphira Brown finished fifth with a jump of 38-9.5. Those placings tallied 27 points that sent Tech from a third place standing, down 20 points to Utah State, to a first place standing with a seven point advantage.
Also leading the rally for the Lady Techsters was Hayes, a New Orleans native that won gold medals in the 100m and 200m dashes and as the anchor leg of the 4x400m relay. Hayes ran a personal record in the 200m that now ranks her 48th in the nation and solidifies her spot in the NCAA East Preliminary Championship field in a potential five events: 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay and the long jump.
The overall title was clinched after the 4x400m relay easily won with the quartet of Monique Wright, Stacia Hanneman, Shante Benion and Hayes never trailed in the race.
After a tough first full day of action on Thursday, the team got out to a rough start as the 4x100m relay team dropped the baton in the first handoff and gave away what could have been 10 critical points.
On the men's side, a pair of Ruston High School products led the charge for Louisiana Tech. Senior Larry Jones won his third consecutive WAC discus title with a throw of 175-0 while freshman Trey Hadnot won the 400m by five-thousandths of a second over teammate Justin Terry. Hadnot also won the 200m dash and ran on the winning 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
Freshman Dennis Richardson, brother of LSU football/track star and Olympic gold medalist Trindon Holliday, won the 100m dash with a time of 10.44. Senior Billy Ray Walker won his first WAC title in the 110m hurdles in one of the closest finishes in conference history, beating out Boise State's Rolando Trammel by two-thousandths of a second (0.002).
Alwayne Green recorded a personal record time of 1:51.16 in the 800m as he finished third while Matt Wolfe finished fifth in the 1,500m with a time of 3:53.87, half a second from a personal best time.
Select athletes will now turn their attention to the NCAA East Preliminary Championships in two weeks held on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
For complete coverage of Tech Track and Field, please visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.