MONROE, La. – The Texas State women captured the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship Title, contested at the Groseclose Track at Brown Stadium on the campus of ULM in Monroe, La., for the first time since 2018 with 120.2 team points.
The Bobcats won their first Sun Belt championships in back-to-back years (2017-18), before standing atop the podium this year. They used 69.2 points from field events with gold medals in the women’s shot put, women’s discus and women’s hammer. In the shot put and hammer, Texas State claimed both the gold and silver medals.
The Sun Belt student-athletes accomplished 21 new facility records as well as six Sun Belt Conference Championships Meet records. 271 student-athletes recorded personal-best finishes at the championships with 119 accomplishing season-best marks and times.
On the final day of competition, Utitofon Sam from Texas State opened the meet with a new Sun Belt Conference Championship Meet record in the women’s discus with a facility record mark of 54.76m/179-8. The previous facility record had stood since 1998 and the meet record was recorded in 2013.
In the women’s high jump, Southern Miss’ Alana Simon matched the facility record in the women’s high jump with a clearance of 1.76m/5-9.25. Francois Prinsloo from South Alabama earned his second gold medal of the meet in the men’s discus with a Sun Belt Championships Meet record throw of 62.73m/205-9 that also established a new facility record set in 2010.
ULM’s Eunice Ilunga Mbuyi claimed the gold in the women’s triple jump with a season’s best mark of 13.37m/43-10.5 that also was a new facility record.
On the track, Southern Miss claimed a pair of women’s relay gold medals that also set new facility records. In the women’s 4x100m relay, the Golden Eagles ran a season-best 43.98 to stand atop the podium. The 4x400m relay team closed out the meet in similar fashion with a gold medal in 3:38.66.
The Louisiana men’s 4x100m relay team broke a Sun Belt Conference Championships Meet record that was set in 2001 with a blazing time of 39.45. The mark also broke the facility record. In the women’s 1500m, Marshall’s Kylee Mastin broke the facility record that was set the previous day with a time of 4:27.91 to claim the gold.
Texas State’s Daniel Harrold broke a facility record that was set in 1976 with a new sun Belt Conference Championships Meet record time of 13.45 in the 110m hurdles. The time also marked a personal-best finish for the junior.
Southern Miss’ Trinity Benson broke a facility record that was set in 1983 in the women’s 400m with a personal-best time of 53.02 to stand atop the podium. ULM’s Kimone Campbell claimed gold in the women’s 800m to break a facility record that had stood since 1984 in 2:07.46.
Louisiana’s Moseiha Bridgen reset the facility record she set earlier in the competition with a personal-best time of 57.69 to win the women’s 400m hurdles. Georgia Southern’s NaJ Watson broke a facility record that was set in 1984 in the women’s 200m with a personal-best time of 23.19 to earn the gold.
Texas State’s Dominick Yancy captured the men’s 200m final in 20.48 that broke a facility record set in 1986. Marshall’s Abby Herring finished on the podium for the second time at the championships with a gold medal in the women’s 5000m with a new facility record time of 16:26.29.
The 2024 NCAA outdoor track and field preliminaries will run from May 22-25. The East preliminary will be hosted by the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., while the West preliminary will be hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. The selection will be announced the week prior to First Round competition.
The top 48 declared student-athletes will be accepted into the preliminary competitions for each individual event. The top 24 declared relay teams will be accepted into the preliminary competitions for each relay event.
Combined events do not attend the preliminary meets. For combined events (Heptathlon and Decathlon), the top 24 declared student-athletes in each event based on their position on the national descending-order list will be accepted directly into the championships.
The NCAA outdoor track and field championships run from June 5-8. Both the men's and women's championships will be run simultaneously at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
2024 Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 10, 2024)
Men’s Team Scores:
1. South Alabama (143)
2. Texas State (118)
3. Louisiana (99)
4. App State (98)
5. Arkansas State (90)
6. Southern Miss (86)
7. Coastal Carolina (74)
8. ULM (59)
9. Troy (41)
10. Marshall (10)
Women’s Team Scores:
1. Texas State (120.2)
2. Louisiana (115.7)
3. Arkansas State (92)
4. Southern Miss (90.2)
5. Marshall (71.2)
6. App State (53.2)
7. Georgia Southern (48)
8. ULM (46)
9. Georgia State (44)
10. Coastal Carolina (43)
11. James Madison (40)
12. South Alabama (35.5)
13. Troy (19)
High-Point Scorers:
Men: Francois Prinsloo (South Alabama), 23
Women: NaJ Watson (Georgia Southern) 19.5
Sun Belt Championship Meet Records Broken (Entire Meet)
Women’s Discus Throw – Utitofon Sam, Texas State [54.76m/179-8]
Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles – Daniel Harrold, Texas State [13.45]
Men’s 4x100-Meter Relay – Louisiana [39.45]
Men’s Decathlon – Colby Eddowes, Arkansas State [7,443 points]
Men’s Discus Throw – Francois Prinsloo, South Alabama [62.73m/205-9]
Men’s Pole Vault – Kyle Rademeyer, South Alabama [5.65m/18-6.5]
Facility Records Broken (Entire Meet)
Women’s 100-Meter Hurdles – Amanda Kinloch, Coastal Carolina [13.25]
Women’s 100-Meter Dash – NaJ Watson, Georgia Southern [23.19]
Women’s 400-Meter Dash – Trinity Benson, Southern Miss [53.02]
Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles – Moseiha Bridgen, Louisiana [57:69]
Women’s 800-Meter Dash – Kimone Campbell, ULM [2:07.46]
Women’s 1500-Meter Run – Kylee Mastin, Marshall [4:27.91]
Women’s 5,000-Meter Run – Abby Herring, Marshall [16:26.29]
Women’s 4x100-Meter Relay – Southern Miss [43.98]
Women’s 4x400-Meter Relay – Southern Miss [3:38.66]
Women’s Discus Throw – Utitofon Sam, Texas State [54.76m/179-8]
Women’s Hammer Throw – Elisabet Runarsdottir, Texas State [69.08m/214-2]
Women’s Long Jump – Ashlee Osaji, App State [6.26m/20-6.5]
Women’s Pole Vault – Bella Croscetti, Arkansas State [3.97m/13-0.25]
Women’s Shot Put – Melanie Duron, Texas State [16.67m/54-8.25]
Women’s Triple Jump – Eunice Ilunga Mbuyi, ULM [13.37m/43-10.5]
Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles – Daniel Harrold, Texas State [13.45]
Men’s 200-Meter Dash – Dominick Yancy, Texas State [20.48]
Men’s 4x100-Meter Relay – Louisiana [39.45]
Men’s Decathlon – Colby Eddowes, Arkansas State [7,443 points]
Men’s Discus Throw – Francois Prinsloo, South Alabama [62.73m/205-9]
Men’s Pole Vault – Kyle Rademeyer, South Alabama [5.65m/18-6.5]