Three school records fall for McNeese at Houston indoor meet
HOUSTON – Three more McNeese State indoor track and field school records fell this weekend at the Howie Ryan Invitational and Multi's.
La'Shantena Rounds placed second overall but was the first collegian to place in the weight throw with a school record toss of 61-11.00 and breaking her old record of 60-10 set last season.
For the second consecutive week, freshman Cowgirl pole vaulter Nichole Casper set a school mark and cleared 12-01.50 on Friday to finish seventh overall.
Sprinter and newcomer Jasmine Webb took first in the women's 60 meters with a school record time of 7.60 clocked in both the semifinal and final rounds. Web also ran a 26.05 in the 200 meters to place first in her heat and advance to the semifinal round where she didn't qualify for the finals.
Other top 10 finishes on the weekend had Thomas Canchola placing fifth in the shot put with a season-best 51-10.50 mark and a sixth place finish in the weight throw with a toss of 57-11.
Also for the men, Anthony Hatwood placed fourth in the heptathlon with 4,618 points and held the lead heading into the final two events of the contest. He won the high jump portion of the heptathlon with a mark of 6-06.25 to close out the first day's events then opened up the second day with a win in the 60 meter hurdles.
Parminder Singh cleared 6-06.75 to finish fifth in the high jump while Alex Bruce-Littlewood was seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 1:55.15 and Martin Delguste ninth with a 1:57.02. Bruce-Littlewood was the third collegian to cross the finish line and Delguste was fifth.
In the 1-mile run, Brock Moreaux placed ninth with a time of 4:25.39 and was followed by Nicholas Kiprono in 10th place at 4:26.79.
On the women's side, Jacqueline Berry placed fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 39-02.50 and Jasmine Cornelius recorded her best mark of the season in the high jump with a clearing of 5-03 for a 12th place finish.
Melanie Jackson had a ninth place finish in the weight throw with a mark of 54-02.75, her best of the young season.
Both McNeese teams will be back in action on Friday when they host the McNeese Indoor II Invitational at the Ralph O. Ward Recreation Complex on the McNeese campus.
Louisiana Tech Sprinters Dominate at Howie Ryan Invitational
HOUSTON - Dennis Richardson barely missed out on a school record and Niko Richey won the open 60m dash by three-thousandths of a second as the Louisiana Tech sprinters dominated in the final day of the Howie Ryan Invitational hosted by the University of Houston Saturday.
Richardson’s time of 6.69 in the elite 60m finals was 0.01 shy of the school record time of 6.68 set by Michael Coleman on Feb. 28, 2008 but was still good enough to win the race. He also ran the fastest time in the prelims with a mark of 6.74. Richardson also finished second in the 200m, running 21.91.
In the general 60m race, Niko Richey edged Northwestern State’s Kendal Taylor for the win by a mere three-thousandths of a second. Richey ran 6.82 (6.816) to Taylor’s 6.82 (6.819) after running a semifinal round best time of 6.83. Richey also ran in the 200m, running 22.05 and finishing sixth.
Teammate Trey Hadnot finished fourth in the 60m dash with a time of 6.84 after running 6.88 in the semifinals while Ed Ivory ran a finals time of 6.95 to place seventh.
On the women’s side, Kimberly Smith finished fifth in the elite 60m dash with a time of 7.49 after running 7.50 in the prelims.
Kim Francis continued to excel in the hurdles, winning the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.45 after matching her own personal record time of 8.39, which is also the 10th fastest time in school history.
Charla Craddock won the 200m after running 24.98 while Victoria Wade finished sixth with a time of 25.49.
The women’s relay team finished second only to host Houston as the quartet of Aldresha Bailey, Taneka Henderson, Craddock and Diamond Every ran 3:51.13.
The men’s relay team of Yusuf Muhammad, Trey Hadnot, Christopher Sampract and Kyonz Smith ran 3:21.07 to finish third behind Texas Southern and a professional team sponsored by Adidas.
In the field events, Micara Vassell finished third in the shot put with a throw of 48-1.25 (14.6mm).
Tech returns to action on Feb. 8-9 when the team competes at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
For complete coverage of Tech Track and Field, please visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.
Taylor, Griffin post top finishes for NSU squads in final day of Howie Ryan Invitational
HOUSTON – The Northwestern State men's and women's track and field teams pulled in 11 top 10 finishes on its second, and final, day of competition at Houston's Howie Ryan Invitational on Saturday.
A second place performance by Kendal Taylor in the 60m dash (6.82) and third place finish by Quiana Griffin in the 400m dash (57.46) were the highest of the meet for the NSU teams.
The Lady Demons had four other top 10 finishers for the day. Senior Janae Allen crushed her previous best shot put mark of 44-08.00, which she set just last week, by almost three feet when she registered a heave of 47-03.75, finishing fifth.
Sarah Jones and Jerrica Tillery grabbed the no. five and six spots in the triple jump with leaps of 38-07.50 and 38-02.00, respectively. The women's 4x400 team of Griffin,Constance Seibles, Madison Morton and Consuela Lindsay turned in a sixth place finish, clocking in at 3:54.51.
“Janae was really our leader today and had a phenomenal day,” said Lady Demon head coach Mike Heimerman. “Quiana ran a strong race and competed very well and Sarah Emory, Sarah Jones and Jerrica also turned in good performances for us.
“We had a good work week but still are not where we want to be. We have four weeks until the conference meet so we will continue to work hard and try to improve until then.”
The Demons snagged five top 10 finishes aside from Taylor's performance. Senior Wayne Douglas and sophomore Aaron Williams placed fourth and 10th in the triple jump with marks of 47-11.25 and 45-08.00, respectively.
Freshman Lionel Ellison had another great week in the high jump, placing 8th at a height of 6-02.75.
Hanoj Carter, another freshman, finished ninth in the 200m dash with a time of 22.45 while sophomore Keenan Jackson turned in a 7th place performance in the 400m dash, clocking in at 50.35.
“We made some great improvements in the sprints today,” said Demon head coach Leon Johnson. “We have some work to do in the jumps but we know what the problems are and we know how to fix them.
“Justin's (Walker) time yesterday in the 60m dash prelims (6.80) puts him at no. 1 in conference and Kendal's today in the finals is second.”
The NSU squads travel to Joplin, Mo. next weekend to compete in the Missouri Southern Lion Open.