Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islander track and field teams
travel to UT Arlington's Maverick Stadium for the 2010 Southland
Conference Outdoor Championships. The championships run
Friday-Sunday, in Arlington.
Senior Ozzie Garcia and junior Kassandrea Son will look to help
their teams having qualified in multiple events on the men's and
women's side. Son also will look to defend her title in the long
jump this weekend.
The men's team qualified 14 members in 11 different events as it
tries for the Southland crown. Matt Youngblood, Grant Bassford,
Patrick Kimeli, Daniel Barlow, Scott Vance, Kirk Dalheim, Ari
Perez, David Wells, Eloy Zertuche, Garcia, Lupe Martinez, Roger De
La Cruz and Quincy Obeng will compete.
"On the men's side we are looking to score significantly more
points outdoors than we did indoors, the 10,000-meter run,
5,000-meter run, steeplechase, 1,500-meter run, 800-meter run and
high jump are the critical events," said director of track and
field Shawn Flanagan "If we can score in all of them we will be
good to go."
Events which the men's team are qualified in are the 400-meter
dash, 800-meter run, 1500-meter run, 3000-meter steeplechase,
5000-meter run, 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles, high, long and
triple jumps plus javelin.
Six Islanders have qualified in the 5000m which is the largest
contingent the A&M-Corpus Christi men will have in an event
with Perez, Barlow, Zertuche, Kimeli, Dalheim, and Vance running.
The 3000-meter steeplechase, 1500 will have four members each,
three members qualified in the high jump.
"Ari has to be solid in spite of injury; Roger has to come up
large as do Daniel, Patrick, Grant, Scott, Eloy and Kirk. For us
to really shine, we need points in other events such as the 400 or
relays." Added Flanagan about what the men's team needs to do.
In the men's 3000 steeplechase, Perez also had a top five time
of 9:13.56 highest of the four who qualified in the event, the
Islanders had four of the top 20 times in the Southland. Perez has
been hampered by a foot injury. De La Cruz enters tied for fourth
in the SLC in the high jump with a 2.09 meters (6-10.25) mark.
Garcia qualified in five events the 110 and 400 hurdles, the
high and long jump in addition to the javelin.
On the women's side 15 members will compete in 10 events trying
to get on the podium. Son, Meghan Lemke, BreAnna Briggs, Cara
Patterson, Courtney Johnson, Faith Barlow, Anne Ronoh, Sheila
Salil, Caitlin Arambula, Melissa Jones, Molly Bishop, Alex Bullard,
Daniela Prado, Jasmine Oyewumi and Tye'sha McFarlin represent
A&M-Corpus Christi.
"On the women's side, we were fifth last year and on the form
chart we are ranked 6th, however we are not that far out
of 3rd, so if the women have a strong meet we could end
up on the podium as a team," said Flanagan "For that to happen,
Kassandrea, the 2009 high-point performer in the Conference meet,
again has to be huge."
The Islander women qualified team members in 10 events, the
100m, 200m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m steeplechase, 5000m, 100m and 400m
hurdles, long and triple jump.
Son, who qualified in four events, has the best mark in the
women's long jump 6.31m (20-08.50), where she is the defending
champ and triple jump at 12.26m (40-02.75). She also has top ten
times in the 100 and 200m dash.
"Kassandrea leads the charts in two events the long jump where
she is defending champ and triple jump were she scored last year.
She is projected as scoring in 100 and 200, which she scored in
last year," Flanagan mentioned about the impact he hopes Son will
make this weekend.
Lemke, who had the sixth-best time in the 1500 at 4:36.74, is
one of seven Islanders to qualify for the event. Joining her will
be Johnson, Faith Barlow, Anne Ronoh, Briggs, Salil and
Arambula.
The steeplechase will have six from A&M-Corpus Christi in
the event, Salil and Johnson had the second and third best times
with 11:00.69, 11:00.77, respectively. Faith Barlow and Arambula
also had top 10 times at sixth and seven during the season.
"The steeple and 1500 were huge for us last year and we will
need a strong performance from our top three finishers who ran last
year in the steeple Sheila, Courtney, Caitlin. It helps having our
top two finishers in the 1500, Meghan and Courtney returning for
us," added Flanagan "The field has gotten much stronger in those
events this year but we'll need major points from these
events."
Like the women's steeplechase the Islanders had four team
members with top ten times in the 5000m run. Ronoh had the fourth
best time at 17:22.55 with Briggs fifth, Johnson seventh and Faith
Barlow having the 10th best time. Bullard and Prado also
met qualifying times giving six runners in the event.
"Finally for us to make it to the podium as a team, we need to
score some points in some events where we are not on the form
chart, such as the 100H, 400H, 800 or second scorer in the triple
jump," Flanagan said in closing about the women's team chances this
weekend.
In addition to both squads trying to claim conference titles
they'll look to qualify team members for the NCAA West Regionals
May 27-29 in Austin at Mike A. Myers Stadium. The top 48 times or
marks in each event qualify for the meet.
Live results of the Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field
Championships can be found online at www.southland.org.
