Meet Results / WT Performance Chart Photo Gallery (Courtesy of Danny Meyer – ASU) / SAN ANGELO, Texas – Tying program bests during outdoor competition, the West Texas A&M men's and women's track & field teams each placed second at the 2015 Lone Star Conference Track & Field Championship this weekend. During the process, some excellent individual and team performances were recorded as the Buffs and Lady Buffs combined to win nine individual/relay events in the competition while qualifying numerous athletes for the upcoming NCAA National Championship.
The LSC Championship meet was hosted by Angelo State University at LeGrand Stadium in San Angelo, Texas beginning Thursday afternoon and concluding Saturday night. In the women's competition, the Lady Buffs finished second overall with 177.5 points, trailing the host-Rambelles who claimed their seventh-consecutive outdoor title with 197 team points. Tarleton State would take the third spot in the standings with 136.5 points, followed by Texas A&M-Commerce (99 pts.), Texas A&M-Kingsville (87 pts.), Eastern New Mexico (56 pts.), Harding (44 pts.), and Midwestern State (20 pts.).
On the men's side, the Buffs finished with 166 points, trailing champion TAMUC (196 pts.). They were followed by ASU (146 pts.), TAMUK (135 pts.), TSU (85 pts.), Harding (48 pts.), ENMU (35 pts.).
"I think the most important thing that we can take away from this weekend is that hard work, dedication, and sacrifice is what ultimately pays off in high-pressure situations," noted head coach
Darren Flowers. "It's the individuals that do the right things day-in and day-out that are responsible for the success of this program. We are closing the gap every year on the top teams in the nation and this group of seniors has led the way. Now it will be up to the next class to continue the tradition that has been established here."
Overall, WT record two new automatic qualifying times during the championship as seniors
Sharon Kwarula and
Arnau Erta punched their tickets to the NCAA National Championship, joining teammate
Lorenzo Johnson who earned his auto spot earlier in the season. Additionally, 10 new or improved provisional times/marks, two school records, and one LSC Championship meet record were recorded during the meet by WT.
Senior
Emma Love (10,000m) and juniors
Zach Daniel (10,000m) and
Zach Weatherly (shot put) grabbed the first LSC individual titles for WT this weekend on Friday night as the Buffs and Lady Buffs completed day two of the championship.
Six more championship titles were earned on Saturday in the final day of the competition. The first was claimed by the Lady Buff 4x100m relay team, consisting of sophomore
Jasmine Pitts and juniors
Libby Strickland,
Bri Leeper, and
Shanice Cameron. The Buffs and Lady Buffs then swept all four individual championships in the hurdles events as junior
Damien Bourguin (400mH), junior
Lorenzo Johnson (110mH), and Kwarula (100mH & 400mH) topped the podium. Finally, senior
Baptiste Moreu dominated the men's 5,000m race in the final event of the day prior to the 4x400m relays.
LADY BUFFS Beginning in the field for the women on the final day, three Lady Buffs picked up points in long jump, starting with freshman
Marion Gatignol who tied for fifth place with a PR of 5.41m. She was followed by junior
Trianna McCalister in seventh and sophomore
Malika Ouedraogo in eighth. Strickland then bumped up her provisional high jump mark to 1.72m by finishing second in the competition. She now ranks 12
th in the country in the event. Then in the final women's field event of the weekend,
Courtney Head and
Holly Cunigan would score in the discus with fifth and seventh place spots, respectively.
The Lady Buff 4x100m relay team kicked running events off on Saturday with its repeat LSC title. Pitts, Leeper, Strickland, and Cameron rolled to a 45.73 time in the event to increase their provisional qualifying time to sixth in the nation. The 4x400m relay team then finished off the meet strong for the women, finishing third and setting a new school record with a time of 3:44.04. That time ranks in the top-12 in the nation, setting the team up strongly for a qualification at nationals. Running in that event was Kwarula, freshman
Sommer Wilder, senior
Rhemecka Graham, and junior
Alba Casanovas.
Kwarula then began hurdles events by defending her outdoor LSC title in the 100m hurdles event. She ran a 13.92 in the finals to top the podium. Casanovas would finish fifth for the Lady Buffs. Kwarula followed with another outstanding run in the 400mH, grabbing another individual championship while setting a school record and LSC Championship record and gaining an automatic qualifier for nationals in two weeks. Her time was 58.45. Casanovas also increased her provisional in the event to 1:00.28 by placing third.
For the 1500m, junior
Mireia Guarner would reach the podium as well in third place with a time of 4:32.59. She was followed by freshman
Brittany Mitchell in sixth place. The Lady Buffs placed three scorers in the 800m run, including senior
Rhemecka Graham (fourth), Mitchell (sixth), and freshman
Kaitlin Rodriguez (eighth). Then in the 5,000m, Guarner and Love would go second and third, reaching the podium for the second time each on the weekend.
Representing WT in the 400m dash finals was Wilder who finished seventh overall with a time of 57.40. In the 100m finals, Cameron would take second place with a time of 11.82. She was followed by Strickland in fifth and Leeper in seventh. All three returned later to score in the 200m finals as Strickland finished third, Cameron fourth, and Leeper seventh.
BUFFS Starting off in the field for the men on Saturday was the men's javelin competition. Freshman
Brandon Leitch picked up five early points for the Buffs by finishing fourth with a best mark of 55.50m. Next up was men's long jump where junior
Paul Alongo finished fourth at 7.31m and senior
Kemarki Absalom sixth at 7.04m. Capping off the men's field events was the discus competition. Freshman
Duke Kicinski hit a big PR to take second place with a throw of 52.42m, increasing his provisional. Weatherly would finish in fourth while junior
Casey Lantelme finished in fifth.
The Buffalo 4x100m relay team started off track events for the men with a third-place podium finish on Saturday. Absalom, junior
Fabian Mueller, Johnson, and senior
Jerell Banks ran a time of 41.03 in the event. Finishing off the competition was the 4x400m relay team of Bourguin, sophomores
Trevor Dennis and
Junior Baca, and freshman
Brandon Rivera. They finished in fourth place with a time of 3:17.92.
Leading from start to finish, Johnson topped the men's 110m hurdles field with a first place finish, running a time of 13.85 to top the podium. Erta followed closely behind in third place at 14.00 after auto qualifying in the prelims on Friday while freshman
Vance O'Rear came in sixth, running 14.45. Bourguin completed the four-event sweep for WT in the hurdles events by taking the crown in the men's 400m hurdles, running an increased provisional time of 51.78. He was followed by teammate
Jacob Norris in sixth place.
In the men's 1500m race, senior
Armando Rueda improved off his sixth place finish a year ago and came in fourth Saturday with a time of 3:57.81. Rueda would then have a big PR in the 800m, finishing second with a time of 1:53.69. He was followed by Rivera (third) and junior
Michael Schaefer (fifth). Later on in the evening, Moreu claimed his 5,000m title decisively with a time of 15:06.76.
Starting in sprint finals, junior
Fabian Mueller grabbed a podium finish in the 100m dash with a time of 10.51 while Banks followed in seventh. Dennis then followed up with a fourth place finish for the men in the 200m finals.
DAY TWO FINALS (FRIDAY) In the first event to finalize at this year's LSC Championship, the Lady Buffs picked up four team points in the heptathlon. Sophomore
Sarah Climer would finish sixth overall with 4,309 points followed by sophomore
Morgan Seawright in eighth with 4,117 points. Both scores were PRs for the two athletes.
For field events, four were scored on Friday, beginning with the triple jump. Ouedraogo reached the podium in second place with a 12.28m jump, followed by Gatignol (fifth, 11.66m) and sophomore
Haily Berry (seventh, 11.40m). Next up was the hammer throw where Cunigan placed sixth overall with a mark of 44.33m. Cunigan would then grab a podium finish in shot put by placing second with a 14.28m throw. She was followed by freshman teammate
Abby Tieken who hit a huge PR and provisional mark, throwing for 13.67m and placing fifth.
Finals on the track started off with the 3000m steeple chase as senior
Michaela Johnson raced to a third place finish with a time of 11:42.35. The second and last final running event came towards the end of the evening with the 10,000m run where Love won her LSC title. Teammate and freshman
Lauren Laisure would finish eighth in the event.
Also being completed first for the men on Friday was the decathlon. Senior
Dustin Dickson picked up the Buffs' first points as he placed seventh with 5,830 points.
In the field, triple jump began the day for the men as junior
Benoit Nadin finished fourth overall, clearing 14.84m. The rest of the night consisted of throws as Weatherly,
Joseph Boyd and Lantelme finished fourth, sixth, and eighth, respectively, in the hammer throw competition. Weatherly would then grab his LSC title in the shot put competition, the last field event to wrap up on day two, by throwing for 16.85m. Boyd would grab more points with a fourth place finish (15.55m).
Also commencing track finals on Friday for the men was the 3000m steeple chase. Sophomore
Matthew Schleder would score the first points for the Buffs on the track as he finished sixth with a time of 10:08.04. Daniel then capped off the night with a big win in the 10,000m race, crossing the line at 32:08.13. Junior
Michael Barnett would come in sixth place to score as well.
SCORING: In the championship meet regardless of the number of teams, official team scores are kept and recorded as follows: (8 scoring) Individual Events: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1, Relay Events: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
MEDALS: Individual medals were awarded in first, second and third places for each event conducted at the LSC Championship Meet, including medals to each member of teams placing in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: The team shall consist of the winner in each event, including all members of the winning relay teams, and any athlete who scores at least 14 points at the Conference Championship Meet. Individual awards shall include Outstanding Male and Female Track Athlete, Outstanding Male and Female Field Athlete, and Coach of the Year for both men and women. Voting for individual awards shall be conducted through an online nomination process (submit nominations by Noon the Tuesday after the LSC meet; Ballots distributed via email by Tuesday evening and voting deadline by Noon that Wednesday to ensure Wednesday afternoon release). Coaches may vote for their own athletes.
NEXT UP: After the LSC Championship, WT will have the following weekend off before qualifying individuals travel to Allendale, Mich. for the second-consecutive season to compete in the 2015 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championship. The meet will be hosted by Grand Valley State University at the GVSU Track & Field Complex on May 21-23. Qualifiers are expected to be announced by the NCAA next Wednesday (May 13). For additional updates, follow @WTAMUTrackXC on Twitter.
