LADY TOPPERS WIN SEVENTH SBC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP; HILLTOPPERS FINISH SECOND
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The WKU women’s track and field team captured its seventh Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field title Tuesday evening at the Birmingham Crossplex with 169 team points, besting the rest of the field by a margin of 48 points.
The Lady Toppers have now won seven SBC Indoor Track and Field titles in the past nine seasons and their 169 team points scored were the second most in league history, trailing only the 2010 WKU Lady Toppers’ squad that scored 179.33. Head coach Erik Jenkins has now combined to win 24 Sun Belt Conference Championships between cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field since taking the program reins in 2008.
The Hilltoppers scored 149 points and won five different events but their total was only good enough for runner-up honors as new league member UT Arlington took the men’s title with 185 points
Senior thrower Jessica Ramsey secured her third-straight shot put crown with a Sun Belt Conference and WKU record heave of 54 feet (16.47m). Ramsey’s clip ranks 17th nationally, broke her own conference record she set earlier this season and broke the conference championship meet record by nearly a meter. Ramsey also won the weight throw on Monday with a toss of 63-feet-7 inches.
In all, the Lady Topper throwers combined to score 45 points in the shot put and weight throw, including the top two spots in each event. Senior Lexia Robinson earned runner-up honors in the shot put with a personal record mark of 51-feet-2 ¼ inches on Tuesday and Satrina Oliveira placed second in the weight throw Monday.
Junior pole vaulter Karleigh Parker won her second-career Sun Belt pole vault title with a school record vault of 12-feet-11 ½ inches (3.95m). Senior Gelela Cooley came up big in the 400-meter dash, winning her first-career 400-meter crown in 54.91 after finishing runner-up the three previous seasons.
The Lady Toppers also had four individuals nab runner-up honors in their respective events, with Carrol Hardy, Chioma Agwunobi, Lindsey Hinken and Ana Camargo earning All-Sun Belt Conference honors for their second-place efforts. Hardy nabbed second in the 60-meter dash (7.43), Agwunobi was runner-up in the 200 (23.99), Hinken set a personal record of 16:48.41 in the 5,000 for her second place finish and Camargo also posted a personal best mark with a runner-up triple jump of 41-feet-2 ½ inches.
The Hilltoppers were led by senior sprinter Elvyonn Bailey’s two individual wins in the 200 and 400-meter dashes. Bailey successfully defended his 400-meter dash crown with a 47.19 clocking while teammate Chris Chamness was second at 47.51. Bailey also nabbed his first 200-meter dash title with a blazing 21.18 clocking. WKU had four of the top five finishers in the 200 with Ja’Karyus Redwine, Ventavius Sears and Emmanuel Dasor placing second, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Bailey was also a part of a third Hilltopper win, anchoring WKU’s 4X400-meter relay that set a conference championship record in the relay with a clocking of 3:11.87.
Derrick Hill captured his third-straight high jump crown with the highest leap in school history at 7-feet-1 ¾ inches. Hill’s jump broke Chuck Durrant’s record of 7-feet-1 inch initially set in 1977 and ranks 20th nationally this season.
Redwine re-broke the 60-meter dash record he set in the preliminary round Monday night, finishing second with a time of 6.71 seconds to set WKU’s new standard. Senior David Mokone scored significant points in the 800 and mile runs with second and third place finishes while junior Cyrus Johnson put up third-place finishes in the triple jump and 60-meter hurdles.
The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship fate of individual Lady Topper and Hilltopper performers will be determined by next Tuesday, March 4 when all the results of this weekend’s conference championships are complete. Jessica Ramsey, Elvyonn Bailey, Derrick Hill and the Hilltoppers 4X400-meter relay all currently rank Top 20 nationally in their respective events. The Top 16-18 marks in the nation are generally invited to the NCAAs.
For more information on WKU Track and Field, follow the team on Twitter @WKUTrackField or visit WKUSports.com.
Men's Final Team Scores
1 – UT Arlington, 185
2 – WKU, 149
3 – Texas State, 79
4 – South Alabama, 76.666666
5 – Arkansas State, 74.333333
6 – UL Lafayette, 46
7 – UL Monroe, 44
8 – UALR, 8
Women's Final Team Scores
1 – WKU, 169
2 – Texas State, 121
3 – Arkansas State, 78.5
4 – UL Lafayette, 75
5 – Georgia State, 70
6 – UT Arlington, 69.5
7 – South Alabama, 52
8 – UALR, 13
9 – Troy, 8
10 – UL Monroe, 7
Men's Top Meet Scorer
Emil Blomberg, UT Arlington – 28 points
Women's Top Meet Scorer
Sharika Nelvis, Arkansas State – 40 points