The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks won their third consecutive Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field title, while the Lumberjacks recorded their first outdoor conference title in program history Sunday afternoon in Natchitoches, La. It marks the first time since the 2006 season that a university has swept both the men’s and women’s competition.
The SFA men scored 162 points to outscore the competition by 16 points. The Ladyjacks scored 160.5 points to record a dominant 58.5-point victory.
SFA wrapped up the day winning a total of six individual titles, and two relay titles, and had 19 athletes earn all-conference honors. The Ladyjacks won six titles, and had 15 all-conference selections, while the men won two titles and had four all-conference titles.
Freshman Colton Ross gave the SFA men a strong start Sunday afternoon when he cleared a height of 16-6.75 to win the men’s pole vault. Ross becomes the first Lumberjack to win the pole vault since Adam Keul won the event, and earned All-America honors in 2002.
Junior Jon Arthur just missed his second conference title in as many days when he finished second in the hammer throw. Arthur scored eight points for the ‘Jacks with his runner-up finish in the event (194-5). He was one of two Lumberjacks to advance to the finals as sophomore Kyle Bishop finished fifth (177-2).
The Ladyjacks recorded their first title of the day in the first track event of the afternoon. SFA’s team of freshmen Paige McCutcheon and Chelsea Stephen, junior Mary Dickerson and senior Arteria Sterns clocked a time of 44.06 to win the 4×100-meter relay by 56-hundredths of a second. The ‘Jacks followed up the women’s conference title by earning all-conference honors in the 400-meter relay. Seniors Sherman Rosborough, Eldridge Mumphrey and Ty Thomas, and freshman Edric Williams finished third overall with a time of 40.88.
The team of McCutcheon, Dickerson, junior Danielle Burchett and freshman Vanessa Whitmire added a second relay title in the women’s 1,600-meter relay. SFA clocked a time of 3:41.43 to win the event. The ‘Jacks followed the women’s title with a runner-up finish. The team of Hawkins, Brown, senior Donavon Sammons and freshman Torin Crowder clocked a time of 3:11.46 to finish second overall.
The SFA women continued to add to their advantage on the track. Stephen returned from her title in the sprint relay, to win the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.64. Junior Nick McCloud followed up Stephen’s performance with a title of his own. McCloud recorded a time of 13.77 to win the men’s 110-meter hurdles.
SFA continued to add to its title haul in the women’s 400-meter dash. Junior Mary Dickerson continued to dominate the conference in the event posting a time of 54.28 to record the victory. She was one of two Ladyjacks in the finals as McCutcheon clocked a time of 56.43 to finish sixth overall. Freshman Cass Brown just missed recording an SFA sweep in the 400 meters. He clocked a time of 46.93 to finish second overall in the event, and was less than a half second off the title pace. Brown was one of three ‘Jacks to reach the finals of the 400 meters. Freshman Hampton Hawkins was fifth (47.81), while classmate Torin Crowder was eighth (49.45).
After helping the Ladyjacks to a title in the 400-meter relay, Sterns returned to the track in the 100-meter dash where she earned all-conference honors with a third-place finish. Sterns clocked a time of 11.84 and was only 24-hundredths of a second off the championship time.
The Ladyjacks continued to add to their lead, and their overall number of conference titles in the women’s 800 meters. Junior Danielle Burchett clocked a time of 2:10.18 to win the title by nearly a second and a half, and improved upon her season-best time by more than five seconds.
The SFA women locked up their third-straight outdoor conference title with their overwhelming performance in the 5,000 meters. The Ladyjacks placed four runners in the top eight, and swept the top three spots. Senior Amy Shackelford won the race with her time of 17:13.69. Classmate Megan Jenkins finished second with her time of 17:29.54, while Lauren Smith took third (17:33.63). Junior Randi Wymer recorded a sixth-place showing in the event with a time of 17:45.56.
The SFA men followed suit with two runners in the top eight of the men’s 5,000-meter run. Junior Xavier Rodriguez clocked a time of 14:58.37 to finish third, while senior Dennis Yeats was fifth (15:01.26).
Several other SFA athletes advanced to the finals of their respective events. The Ladyjacks placed two athletes in the finals of the triple jump. Freshman Kirsten Knox recorded a jump of 39-4.00 to finish sixth overall, while sophomore Kelli Hermes was seventh with a jump of 39-3.25. Senior Marie Flores just missed All-SLC honors in the 1,500 meters finishing fourth with her time of 4:38.63. Junior Jonus Rodriguez scored two points for the SFA men in the 800 meters. He finished seventh overall with a time 1:53.36. Sophomore Christian Donald advanced to the finals of the women’s 400-meters where she clocked a time of 1:03.45 to finish eighth in the event, while freshman Joshua Taylor was eighth in the men’s 400-meter hurdles (1:10.03). The SFA men placed two athletes in the finals of the 200-meter dash. Williams clocked a time of 21.48 to finish seventh overall, while McCloud finished two-one hundredths of a second back of Williams. Junior Macy Wade cleared a height of 11-11.75 to finish in a two-way tie for fifth.
