Complete Results
LAFAYETTE, La. - The Arkansas State men and South Alabama women took home the 2016 Sun Belt Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship team titles on Sunday at the Cajuns Track/Soccer Complex.
The Red Wolves entered the final day of competition in second place, trailing leader South Alabama by two points. Led by a pair of first-place performances by Jaylen Bacon, another championship by Roelf Pienaar and a host of second-place finishes, A-State totaled 94.5 points on the day to finish with 149.5, 11.5 points ahead of runner-up South Alabama.
It was the first men's outdoor track and field title for the Red Wolves since 2005.
“I’m so proud of both our men’s and women’s teams,” said A-State head coach Jim Patchell. Both made a huge turnaround from indoor. The men did an awesome job and this is the first men’s outdoor title since 2005. The women are disappointed in getting so close to another outdoor title, but they fought hard all three days and I’m proud of them for the effort.”
Bacon, the men’s high point scorer with 22.25 points, posted the top qualifying time in both the 100 and 200-meter dash on Saturday and he followed up that effort taking gold in each event. He won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.25 seconds and raced to the 200-meter dash title with a time of 20.75 seconds. Bacon also ran in the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x400-meter relay that posted a third and sixth place finish, respectively.
Pienaar claimed his third-straight triple jump gold medal outdoors with a leap of 15.88m (52-01.25). The leap was a personal-best and marked the third-straight year that he has won both the long and triple jump outdoors. For his career, he has nine gold medals with two indoor triple jump titles and a long jump crown.
The A-State women put up a valiant effort and finished second in the final team standings to South Alabama which claimed its first women's outdoor track and field title since 1999. Ashley Heitling and Joanna McCoy recorded top-five finishes Sunday night in the women's 5,000-meter run, and in the process clinched the team title for the Jaguars.
The two finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the final individual race of the meet, giving the Jaguars 132 points. Arkansas State was able to close to within three points after placing fourth in the 4x400-meter relay, while Texas State was third with 120 points.
"I think what happened was the women went out and did what they were supposed to do, they did what they are capable of doing. In the events that we had a chance to score points, we did," USA head coach Paul Brueske said. "There weren't any letdowns, the girls went out and really got after it. It was a good overall team effort; I am very proud of them.
McCoy was also fourth in the 1,500 meters, finishing just over three seconds behind teammate Laura Labuschaigne, who was All-Sun Belt in the event after crossing the line second with a time of 4:30.53.
Kaitlyn Beans earned the women's lone victory on Sunday after equaling her school standard in the triple jump with a 13.19m mark, winning the event while collecting all-conference accolades. Kriszti Szabo and Taylor Young were fifth and sixth, respectively, with the former finishing with a mark of 12.27m and the latter jumping a career-best 12.24m.
A-State's Kristina Knott, the top women’s scorer in the meet with 27.5 points, took gold in the 100 and 200-meter dash. She posted a time of 11.44 seconds in the 100-meter dash and a school-record time of 23.30 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Her 200-meter dash time topped the school record held by Sharika Nelvis (23.39).
Earlier in the day, USA's Jan-Louw Kotze earned his fourth consecutive men's discus title, as his mark of 58.52m was over four meters further than the next closest competitor, with the performance coming a day after the senior scored points for the Jaguars by finishing fourth in the shot put. Teammate Sean Collins earned his first-ever victory and all-league honors at a conference outdoor championship, setting school, Sun Belt and meet records after recording a height of 5.51m.
The Little Rock Trojans' 4x100 relay team started the day in stunning fashion, shattering the school record in the event and winning the Sun Belt championship. The team of Bless Dupeh, Rickitha Hicks, Christina Nickerson and Anika Charles finished in 45.22 seconds, 0.81 seconds faster than their own previous school record they had set twice earlier this year.
Appalachian State's Tristin Van Ord won her second event of the weekend in the 5,000-meters with a time of 17:00.04. Right behind Van Ord was teammate Samantha Campanaro who took second with a time of 17:02.98. Van Ord's men's teammate, Stanley Broaden, won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.67 and also took second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.04. Broaden’s time in the 400 hurdles was a personal-best and good for second all-time in program history. The time is also marked as ninth-best in the NCAA East Region and 16th in the country.
Michael Ellis joined Broaden as a Sun Belt champion in the 5,000-meter run. Ellis won the race by over six seconds with a time of 14:35.47.
Texas State, which finished third in both the men's and women's team races, picked up victories in the women's discus from Julie Lange and Antonisha Stewart in the 100-meter hurdles. The Bobcat men scored first-place finishes in the men's 4x100-meter relay, 400-meters from Demarcus Porter and the 800-meters from DeQuad Binder.
Men’s Final Team Scores (21 Events Scored)
1) Arkansas State - 149.50
2) South Alabama - 138
3) Texas State - 118
4) UT-Arlington - 99.50
5) UL-Monroe - 86
6) Appalachian State - 76
7) Troy - 67
8) UL-Lafayette - 66
9) Arkansas-Little Rock – 17
Women’s Final Team Scores (21 Events Scored)
1) South Alabama - 132
2) Arkansas State - 129
3) Texas State - 120
4) Appalachian State - 93
5) UT-Arlington - 76.50
6) Georgia State - 66.50
7) UL-Lafayette - 61
8) Arkansas-Little Rock - 56
9) Troy - 50
10) UL-Monroe - 26
11) Georgia Southern – 9
Men’s Top Meet Scorer
Jaylen Bacon, Arkansas State – 22.25 points
Women’s Top Meet Scorer
Kristina Knott, Arkansas State – 27.50 points