Troy University Athletics
SBC Championship Update: Day 2
5/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
LAFAYETTE, La. -- The Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship is underway and troytrojans.com will be providing updates as much as possible throughout the day. Check back often for the latest information and at the end of the day for a complete recap.
8:30 p.m. -- The men's 400 hurdles finished with Mike Conley earning a spot in the finals. His time of 55.32 was good enough for seventh, although he faltered in the end, an acceptable occurance given his decathlon finish earlier in the day. Logan Ethridge was 12th with a time of 57.25.
On the women's side, Faith Hampton finished 18th in a time of 1:10.54.
7:50-- The 800 meter runs did not prove fruitful for Troy as none of the three competitors advances out of the preliminaries. On the women's side, Laide Onikoyi finished 11th at 2:18.99, while Martyna Pietryka was 14th at 2:21.03. Terrence Dixon (1:58.65) and Dennis Acree (2:06.44) finished 16th and 23rdon the men's side.
7:30 p.m. -- After four marks just shy of NCAA Regional qualifying this spring, Lamar Hicks has booked his spot in Columbia, Mo. The sophomore finished second in the third heat, but ran the minimum standard of 10.50 seconds.
7:20 p.m. -- Tawanna Meadows has set a new school record in the 100 meters with a heat-winning time of 10.63 seconds. She bested Tanisha Davis' mark of 11.66 set last year. Meadows had already qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional in the 100 meters at 11.75, but dropped that mark by .12 seconds.
7:05 p.m. -- Matavis Madden and Tevis Williams finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 400 meter dash and will participate in the final tomorrow. They posted times of 47.75 and 48.05 in the event.
6:35 p.m. -- Jocelyn Williams, stuck in Lane 8 for the first heat, ran her second best time of the year in the 400 meter dash -- 56.66 seconds, but did not advance out of the preliminaries. Semetria Matthews ran in the fourth heat, but did also not advance with a time of 1:02.17.
6:20 p.m. -- Leander McKenzie has advanced out of the preliminaries in the 110 meter hurdles. His time of 14.36 equalled his second-best of the year and put him fourth overall.
6:15 p.m. -- The track prelims are off and running, especially for Troy. All three Trojan women in the first event -- the 100 meter hurdles -- advanced to tomorrow's final. Monique Johnson finished third at 14.00, while Juzil Rudolph was one spot behing at 14.29. Latoya Ragland finished seventh at 14.48.
5 p.m. -- O'Darien Bassett has become the third Trojan, male and female to stand atop the medal podium minutes ago as his long jump of 7.87 meters (25-feet, 10-inches) held up through the finals. The standard ties for the second best in the country this year. Mike Nichols did not improve his score in the final round and finished sixth.
3:40 p.m. -- Mike Conley has earned the first men's medal for Troy in the championship, finishing third in the decathlon with a personal-best score of 6,402 points. He ended the competition in grand style, winning the 1500 meter run in 4:59.21. Chris Hale finihsed ninth at 4,359 points.
The men's long jump has started with a trio of Trojans in the first flight. O'Darien Bassett 's third jump of 7.87 meters (25-feet, 10-inches) equalled the second-longest jump in the country this year and was just one centimeter short of his own standard, set April 28 at the ULM Warhawk Classic. Mike Nichols surprised everyone with a personal best and NCAA-qualifying standard of 7.38 meters (24-feet, 2.5-inches).. It is the first time in his career he has cleared seven meters. Lamontray Stamper did not advance to the finals, which include the top nine finishers from the three preliminary flights.
2:30 p.m. -- With just two events remaining in the decathlon, Mike Conley is poised to capture the bronze medal. He has 5,838 points, 194 over the fourth-place competitor. He pole vaulted 3.55 meters (11-feet, 7.75-inches) to earn 496 points, then placed second overall in the javelin at 48.89 meters. (
Meanwhile, Latoya Ragland was the only one of four Trojans to advance to the long jump final after her preliminary leap of 5.65 meters (18-6.5 meters). She improved three spots to sixth place with a finals jump of 5.82 meters (19-feet, 1-inch).
12:15 p.m. -- Another CONFERENCE CHAMPION! Saving herself for the open long jump competition, Juzil Rudolph took advantage of her six-event cushion and cruised to the Heptathlon title. She earned 638 points with a run of 2:34.50 in the 800 meters. Her overall score of 4,983 fell short of her own school record, but she held on to a 56-point advantage over Jessica Delaunay of Western Kentucky.
Erin Clymer finished sixth overall with a score of 4,361 points.
11:05 a.m. -- Proving she isn't Wonder Woman, Juzil Rudolph fouled twice in the javelin competition and had to settle for a throw of 25.77 meters (84-feet, 6-inches). The resulting 397 points, her lowest of the competition, has cut her lead to a 211 points, giving her roughly a 14-second cushion heading into the 800 meters. Erin Clymer threw 28.29 meters to earn 444 points and still stands sixth.
10:30 a.m. -- Juzil Rudolph has done it again! The junior won her fourth event in the heptathlon this morning with a long jump of 5.80 meters (19-feet, 0.5-inches) and now has a commanding 337-point lead with 3,948 points. She is also more than 70 ahead of her school-record pace from the Auburn Invitational earlier this year.
Erin Clymer made a distance of 4.93 meters (16-feet, 2.25-inches) and has moved up to sixth place in the overall standings.
Mike Conley threw the discus 32.80 meters (107-feet, 7-inches) to earn 520 points and has fallen to second place in the overall standings. He has 4,770 points, 154 behind Arkansas State's Matt Vining.
9:30 a.m. -- How things can change in the decathlon! Mike Conley won his second event of the competition this morning and has vaulted into first place after six events. He ran 14.88 in the 110 hurdles to earn 864 points and now has a 10-point advantage (4,250 to 4,240) over the day one leader. However, Matt Vining of Arkansas State competed in the open discus event and will likely go back in front for the next event.
9 a.m. -- Day two of the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship is underway with the conclusion of the multi-events this morning. Mike Conley, in third place after the first day, will compete in the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500-meter run.
In half an hour, overall leader Juzil Rudolph and Erin Clymer restart the heptathlon competition with the long jump. They finish the competition with the javelin and 800-meter run.
