Saturday, February 17, 2018

Twice as nice for Alabama State, both teams claim championships


BIRMINGHAM, Alabama  -- For the second consecutive year, Alabama State won the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) indoor track and field championships at the Birmingham Crossplex, winning both Saturday evening.
 
The Lady Hornets ran away with their unprecedented 10th team title, racking up 166.5 points and winning by 48 points over runner-up Prairie View A&M. Meanwhile, on the men's side, the Hornets won with 148 total points and finished ahead 24.5 points ahead of runner-up Prairie View A&M. With the two victories, Alabama State head coach Ritchie Beene was named SWAC Coach of the Year for both, the men and women.
 
Charminique Hackney earned the distinction of the SWAC's fastest woman, taking home gold in the 60-meter dash (7.42) and nabbing another gold while setting a new SWAC Indoor Championships record in the 200-meter dash with a 23.61-second result. Hackney beat out Alcorn State's Euricka Hardy (7.49) and Texas Southern's Alexis Gray (7.50) in the 60-meter event, and bested Gray (23.66) and Alabama A&M's Joi Ballard (24.28) in the 200 meter dash.
 
The Lady Hornets continued their winning ways in the 60-meter hurdles as Shamira Lovett (8.59) raced to the gold medal. Texas Southern's Zaidra James (8.66) and Lady Hornet Ariayanna Val (8.70) won silver and bronze, respectively. Kemei dominated distance events, winning the women's mile run (5:14.46) and the 5,000-meter run (18:36.67). Alabama State's Sade Lavallias (5:18.87) and Janice Lane (5:19.25) also medaled in the mile run.

Alabama State's Arion Span finished second in the 5,000-meter run (19:04.29) and Mississippi Valley's Alice Kimutai posted a time of 19:23.26 to take the bronze.

Earlier in the day, Span nabbed a gold in the 800-meter run (2:13.37), with Prairie View A&M's Husiniyyah Rogers (2:18.39) earning silver and Southern's Raelynn Price (2:19.3) third. Prairie View A&M swept the women's triple jump, with Kaizha Roberts (11.94m; 39-02.25 feet) earning the top finish. In second was Devynn King (11.72m; 38-05.5 ft) and coming in third was Toronica Duncan (11.59m; 38-00.25 ft).
 
The women had several top five finishes on the day including China Reed (fifth in the triple jump), Lakeyah Blackmon (fifth in the pole vault), Roderica White (fifth in high jump), Desiree Horn (fifth in the 60-meters) and Kyana Evans (second in 400-meters).
 
Meanwhile, on the men's side, Alabama State's Joshua Coffelt (4:22.85) earned the gold in the men's mile run, with Arkansas-Pine Bluff's Laural Heath (4:23.16) taking second and Jackson State's Raheem Skinner (4:24.2) in third.  Joshua Hilliard of Jackson State clocked an 8.08-second mark in the 60-meter hurdles, good for first place. Terrance Adams of Alabama State (8.11) edged Prairie View A&M's Logan Williams (8.15) to earn silver.
 
Josh Davis won gold in the 200-meter dash for the Hornets, finishing with a time of 20.94 seconds, while teammate David East came in fifth with a time of 21.54.
 
The men also had several student-athletes finish in the top five in Friday events including Marquis Nelson (second in the weight throw), Caesar Kemp (fifth in weight throw), Jamie Brown (fifth in triple jump), Davis (second in the 60-meter dash), Norris Spike (third in the 60-meter dash), Lezoghia Member-Meneh (third in the 400-meters) and Andrew Jackson(second in the 800 meters).

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For complete coverage of Alabama State University track and field, please follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateTFXC (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook) and @BamaStateSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at BamaStateSports.com.
 

 ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATION

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