Day 1 Results | Saturday Heat Sheets | Championship Central
ARLINGTON, Texas - The South Alabama Jaguar men and women's outdoor track and field teams jumped out to early leads after day one of the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Jaguar women closed out day one with 47 points while the men finished with 28 points.

The Jaguar women earned points in all event finals on day one including a win in the women's javelin. USA's Barbara Rivera successfully defended her javelin title from last year with a 50.39m (165'4") throw. The toss was just 31 centimeters off the championship record and was a new PR for the junior.

Rivera's teammate, Liz Bolden, finished third in the javelin as the Jags earned 16 points in the event. USA earned an additional 15 points in the pole vault taking third through fifth places in the event. The Jags also tallied 12 points in the first event final of the day, the women's hammer throw, with third, fourth and eighth place finishes.

Georgia State's LaPorscha Wells won the women's hammer shattering the six-year old championship and Sun Belt record. Her throw of 64.84m (212'9") outdistanced the nearest competitor by 19 feet and was just off her season best of 65.39m. It was Wells' third consecutive Sun Belt hammer title.

UTA's Helen Falda won the women's pole vault in a jump-off against teammate Madison Pecot. The freshman won the title on the second jump of the jump-off. Falda and Pecot's clearance of 4.06m (13'3.75") was a new Maverick Stadium record.

Coastal Carolina's Annie Bothma won the women's 10,000-meters with a new Sun Belt championship record time of 34:12.04. It was the third Sun Belt title for the freshman from South Africa as she won the women's 5k title at the cross-country championships last fall and the indoor 5,000-meter title in February. Appalachian State's Tristin Van Ord was second and Tori Shelton of UTA was third.

UTA's Alexus Henry leads the heptathlon with 3,333 points through the first day of events. USA’s Emile Berge and Hannah Dunderdale followed her.

On the men's side, only three event finals were contested - hammer, javelin and the 10,000-meters. Arkansas State's Cristian Ravar Ladislau took home top honors in the men's hammer with a new personal best throw of 67.33m (220'11"). The mark also meets the requirements for the European under-23 Championships, a mark Ladislau was hoping to attain this season.

USA's Zach Blahnik was the runner-up with a new PR as well as the senior tossed the hammer 65.92m (216'3"). USA picked up 19 points in the event with Blahnik's runner-up finish, a fourth, fifth and seventh place finishes.

Louisiana's Bartul Basic won his second consecutive Sun Belt men's javelin title on Friday with a 68.17m (223'8") toss. Basic's teammate, Hunter Stelly, finished second and Troy's Connor Brookman was third. USA picked up nine additional points in the javelin with fourth and fifth place finishes.

UTA's Michael Guerrero claimed the 10,000-meter title with a time of 30:14.62, defeating runner-up Joseph Meade of Texas State by 12 seconds. Guerrero's teammate, Justin Domangue, was third. The title for Guerrero was his first-ever conference title.

Louisiana's Franz Beyer leads the decathlon with 3,563 points. A-State freshmen duo of Hayden Hampton and Coleton Clifft are second and third, respectively, with the remaining five events to go on Saturday.

Action continues on day two with the finish of both the heptathlon and the decathlon. The decathlon begins at 9:00 a.m. CT and the hep at 9:30 a.m. CT. Field event finals begin at 12:30 p.m. CT with the women's long jump. The running preliminaries begin at 5:00 p.m. CT with the women's 100-meter hurdles.

Women's Team Scores
1. South Alabama - 47 pts
2. UTA - 26 pts
3. Coastal Carolina - 21 pts
4. Appalachian State - 15 pts
5. Georgia State - 12 pts
6. Arkansas State - 9 pts
6. Louisiana - 9 pts
8. Texas State - 8 pts
9. Troy - 5 pts
10. ULM - 4 pts

Men's Team Scores
1. South Alabama - 28 pts
2. Louisiana - 23 pts
3. UTA - 16 pts
4. Arkansas State - 12 pts
4. Troy - 12 pts
6. Texas State - 8 pts
7. Coastal Carolina - 7 pts
8. Arkansas-Little Rock - 5 pts
9. Appalachian State - 3 pts
9. ULM - 3 pts