FRIDAY RESULTS
BIRMINGHAM – The Alabama State women's indoor track and field team captured its fourth consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Birmingham Crossplex Friday afternoon. The men's team rallied for a fifth-place finish.
The Lady Hornets totaled 196.5 points, outdistancing second-place Prairie View (127.5) third-place place Mississippi Valley State (65 points). On the men's side, the ASU team rallied to a fifth-place finish with 62 points, placing just ahead of Mississippi Valley State (60) and Jackson State (56 points).
“I knew we were prepared to come out here and run, but these ladies really stepped their game up,” said head coach
Ritchie Beene, who was named SWAC Coach of the Year. “We knew Prairie View was going to be a tough team coming into this championship, but these ladies were determined. We had a serious team meeting (Wednesday night) and talked about character, and these ladies showed that.”
Tia Rolle was a double winner for the Lady Hornets, taking home first place in the 60-meter dash (7.43) and the 200-meter dash (23.85).
“Tia did an outstanding job today,” Beene said. “We knew in the 60 it was going to be a battle, and she got out there, battled back and caught (Tiffany George of Southern, winning by one-one hundredth of a second) at the end. In the 200, she was a few tenths of a second off the SWAC record. The double win was good for her.”
Lyqruisha Wyche won the pole vault, clearing 2.81 meters (nine feet, 2.50 inches).
“It was awesome; she really needed that,” Beene said of Wyche. “She went out last year with a torn ACL. For her first year back out there, she needed that and I'm happy for her.”
Shexnieavia Bryant was another first place finisher for the Lady Hornets, winning the weight throw with a SWAC record distance of 18.25 meters (59 feet, 10.50 inches).
In capping off the championship in style, Alabama State won an exciting, down-to-the-wire mile relay race in the final event. The quartet of
Jerrica Mahone,
Jasmine Pope,
Breana Kelly and
Lutrisha Altidor won in a SWAC-record time of three minutes, 47.39 seconds, just ahead of Prairie View, which also beat the previous conference mark.
Kelly had an electrifying effort in the third leg, setting the stage for Altidor, who ran shoulder-to-shoulder with PV's Kelsi Alexander before pulling away at the end, bringing the crowd to its feet.
“Breana did an awesome job,” Beene said. “She finished third in the 800, and jumped right back in there in the 4x4. I knew if it was close, she still had a little bit of leg left in her to catch (PV), and she gave the last that leg a spark. (Lutrisha and I) talked right before the 4x4, and I moved her to the fourth leg. She was a little nervous about it, saying 'Coach, what if I let the team down?' I said 'You are a senior, there is no way you can let this down. You are a champion, go out, trust God and trust your legs and do what you have to do', and she did that.”
On the men's side,
Sylvester Byrd won the pole vault, clearing 3.55 meters (11 feet, 7.75 inches). Byrd also finished fourth in both the 60-meter dash (6.89 seconds) and the 200-meter dash (21.86 seconds).
“Byrd did a great job in the pole vault,” Beene said. “He had not competed in it all year, as he had worked a lot of sprint events. We worked really, really hard, preparing for the championship. We knew if he got in there and got in rhythm, he would do well and he did for us.”
Byron Kearney finished third in the triple jump with a leap of 14.32 meters (46 feet, 11.75 inches).
Lee Thrasher finished fourth in the weight throw with a distance of 15.74 meters (51 feet, 7.75 inches).
Despite not having a lot of depth on the men's side, Beene was proud of the team's effort in the championship meet.
“Again, it goes back to character,” Beene said. “That's one of the things I talked about with those guys as well. You have to go out there and believe in yourself, and those guys fought and I love them for doing that. For us to be small in numbers, and to have people in every event in the finals, I'm absolutely proud of those men.”
