Day Two Results
NATCHITOCHES, La. – Freshman
Christopher Welch earned gold in the triple jump with a new program record in the event with the Huskies setting a total of five new records on day two of the Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday held at Northwestern State's Walter P. Ledet Track Complex.
Welch's record-setting jump came on his first attempt of the day with a mark of 15.74m/51-7.75 which was more than a foot and a half better than the second-place finisher. He only attempted two other jumps out of his six opportunities with a foul and a mark of 15.72m/51-7.0 on his sixth attempt.
In the women's triple jump, senior
Tay Nance improved upon her own school record by just over a foot with a mark of 12.98m/42-7.0 on her final attempt of the meet to take silver on the podium.
Scott Boon, a freshman, was third through five events in the decathlon and moved up to finish second with a PR total of 7,217 points. That total came up just 31 points shy of UIW's Rodney Littlejohn who won the event. Boon bettered his own program record in the pole vault with a height of 4.75m/15-7 for 834 points while also setting new PRs in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 15.82 and a mark of 4:42.37 in the 1500 meters.
In the heptathlon, sophomore
Kaitlin Smith placed fifth but improved on her program record total in the event by 265 points with a final total of 5,040. Smith set new PRs in the long jump with a distance of 5.66m/18-7.0 and the 800 meters with a time of 2:29.24.
Freshman
Garrett Gibson had a strong day on the track, qualifying for the finals in both the 400 meter hurdles and the 110 meter hurdles. Gibson won his heat by nearly a whole second in the 400h with a new program record time of 52.67, the fastest time in the prelims. In the 110h,
Denim Rogers posted the fourth-best prelim time of 14.31 with Gibson fifth thanks to a time of 14.39.
Smith also qualified for the finals in the 100 meter hurdles, winning her heat with a time of 14.08 for the third-fastest time in the prelims.
Chantel Ward just missed out on points in the shot put, finishing ninth with a top heave of 13.81m/45-3.75. In the men's 800 meter prelims,
Travis Jacobs,
Zion Walker and
Christos Zachariou just missed out on qualifying for the finals, placing ninth, 10
th and 11
th, respectively, and all posting marks within .28 seconds of one another.
The HBU men are currently in eighth place with 18 points while the women are 10
th with 13 points.
The 2019 SLC Outdoor Championships will conclude on Sunday, May 5, with events beginning at 10:00 a.m.
