Day One Results | Championship Central
LAFAYETTE, La. - The Arkansas State women and the South Alabama men lead their respective packs after the first day of the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Home Bank Track / Soccer Facility on Thursday (May 12).
The second day of the Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships begins at 9 a.m. CT Friday. Running events and the ESPN+ broadcast commence at 5 p.m. CT.
The Red Wolves women jumped out to a commanding 29-point lead, out-pacing host Louisiana (26) in second place and South Alabama (22) in third place. The men’s side was much tighter until the 10,000 meter event as USA (55) holds a 29-point advantage over Troy (17) and Arkansas State (17).
Through four events, A-State took advantage of a pair of gold-medal field finishes, paced by Lauren Beauchamp’s 3.82 meter result in the pole vault – cementing a back-to-back gold medal performance - and Camryn Newton-Smith’s 47.79 meter toss in the javelin. Adding to the Red Wolves’ score early was Avery Shell’s mark of 3.82 meters in the pole vault, finishing just behind Beauchamp due to more attempts to clear the winning height.
Grace Flowers took third in the hammer (59.17 meters) – adding to A-State’s lead – but Alyssa Wilson of Texas State stole the show in the cage. Wilson launched a 70.73 meter hammer on her second attempt, shattering the Sun Belt Championships record, previously set in 2017.
Louisiana’s Sophie Daigle, neck-and-neck with A-State duo of Sophie Leathers and Sarah Trammel, turned on the after-burners at the start of the bell lap and cruised to a 12-second victory to capture the 10,000 meter crown in 36:37.99. However, Leathers (36:49.75) and Trammel (36:51.38) padded the Red Wolves’ lead at the end of the first day.
After capturing the top podium spot in the 100 meter hurdle, high jump and 200 meter, UTA’s Jade Bontke (3,568) holds a 291-point lead over Newton-Smith (3,277) in the heptathlon. Luize Opola of Texas State (2,992) sits in third after the first four events.
On the men’s side, USA jumped to the top of the pack after the first day by virtue of picking up 18 points in the hammer throw. Francois Prinsloo took second place (61.04 meters), Quinton Webb nabbed fourth (56.03 meters) and Viktor Turek (56.03 meters) and Dimitrios Manesiotis (55.88 meters) – sixth and seven places, respectively – built up an early lead for South Alabama. Aimar Palma Simo captured the hammer, handing A-State 10 points, by tossing the hammer 63.73 meters – comfortably ahead of Prinsloo’s effort.
Josh Estes of South Alabama (66.25 meters) took home third place in the javelin to add to USA’s point total, but UTA’s Arthur Peterson completed his second-straight gold medal at the SBC Championships, easily winning the event with a mark of 75.09.
USA nearly doubled its point total in the last event of the evening, as the Jags’ Kirami Yego earned the gold medal handily, crossing the tape at 29:20.13 to boast a 50-second victory over teammate Teagan Flanagan (30:10.95). Onesmus Kemboi nabbed fourth (31:12.15) and Nate Pudner (31:50.81) took seventh – increasing the South Alabama point total from 24 to 49.
UTA’s Lucas Van Klaveren used a pair of first-place finishes in the 100 meter and 400 meter events to build a 3,930 point total, a 194-point lead over Chandler Mixon of Louisiana (3,736) after the first five events of the decathlon. The defending SBC outdoor champion is well within striking distance of the championships record, a 7,292-point effort by Ethan Turpen (Arkansas State) in 2014.
2022 Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 12, 2022)
Men’s Team Scores (through three events):
- South Alabama (49)
- Arkansas State (17)
- Troy (17)
- UTA (14)
- ULM (9)
- Louisiana (4)
- App State (3)
- Coastal Carolina (3)
- Texas State (1)
- Little Rock (0)
Women’s Team Scores (through four events):
- Arkansas State (55)
- Louisiana (26)
- South Alabama (22)
- UTA (15)
- Coastal Carolina (10)
- Texas State (10)
- ULM (10)
- Little Rock (4)
- Troy (4)
- App State (0)
- Georgia Southern (0)