Cardinals Wrap Up Competition at SLC Outdoor Championship

May 11, 2008

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - The Lamar University track closed out competition at the 45th annual Southland Conference Outdoor Track Championship in Huntsville, Texas on Sunday with the women taking sixth place with 48 points and the men finishing in ninth with 38 points.

Senior Clerc Koenck highlighted the meet for Lamar, grabbing a pair of titles in her last SLC Outdoor championship. She notched her first win in the women's 1,500 meter run with 4:30.93 performance for her third straight title in the event. She closed out her impressive day by winning the 5,000 meter run in a new York Track record time of 17:15.61. She finished 24 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.

Francis Kasagule led the way for the Lamar men with a pair of second place finishes in the 1,500 meter run and the 5,000 meter run. In the 1,500 Kasagule turned in a 3:47.17 performance which was nearly two seconds better than the previous track record of 3:49.16. Texas A&M Corpus Christi's Shadrack Songok took first place in a time of 3:46.34.

In the 5,000 meter run Kasagule once again battled Songok down the stretch and grabbed a second place finish. He clocked a 14:24.85 which bettered the previous track record of 14:31.16 while Songok set a new meet record with a 14:20.81 performance.

Lamar's Samuel Kosgei also ran well in the 5,000 meter race, clocking a time of 14:42.91 for fifth place.

In the women's 400 meter dash senior Toni Sylvester grabbed second place finish with a regional qualifying time of 54.50. Brittany Pollard also had a strong performance in the 400, earning a sixth place finish in a time of 55.87.

The pair of Pollard and Sylvester joined Johnson and Ashley Smith in the 4x400 meter relay where the foursome sprinted to a second place finish. The Cardinals posted a time of 3:46.58, just off of their season-best time of 3:46.18.

In the women's 100 meter hurdles senior Jessika Johnson ran to a fourth place finish in a time of 13.89 seconds. Freshman Megan Bibbs who made her way to the finals with a strong performance on Saturday, was not able to finish the race.

Ewan Simpson ran to a sixth place finish in the men's 800 meter run with a 1:54.12 performance.

In the women's 400 meter hurdles Alexandra Mayfield and Angel Bassett finished in seventh and eighth place respectfully. Mayfield crossed the finish line on a time of 1:05.23 while Bassett 1:05.85.

In the men's 800 meter run Ewan Simpson joined Kasagule as the only Cardinals men's runner to advance through to the finals. The senior ran a season-best time of 1:53.75 which was the sixth fastest time in the meet.

The men's 4x400 meter relay team closed out the meet for Lamar, running to a sixth place finish in a time 3:14.80.

Complete results for the SLC Championships can be found at http://www.flashresults.com/flashtexas/slcoutdoor08/