SAN MARCOS, Texas – Kassandrea Son became the fourth student-athlete in Southland Conference history to win four titles in one event in her career, taking the long jump title to lead the Texas A&M – Corpus Christi track and field teams on the second day of the 2012 Southland Outdoor Championships. The Islanders women sit in fifth place through two days, while the men are currently 10th, just two points back of eighth.
"We competed very well today," Director of Track and Field Shawn Flanagan said. "We had some really good performances and set ourselves up for a really good day tomorrow. We had a few near misses, but I was very pleased with how we competed. We just have to go out tomorrow and finish the deal."
Son jumped 6.34 meters in the long jump, earning 10 points for the Islanders and taking her fourth title in as many years. She is the first Islanders athlete to accomplish the feat, and joins Kajsa Haglund (UT-Arlington, 2001-04, 1,500 meters), Eva Jonsson (UTA, 1995-98, heptathlon) and Sita Ward (McNeese State, 1998-02, 10,000 meters) among four-time winners in conference history. It was just shy of her school record jump of 6.35 meters in 2008. Ernestine Cray finished ninth in the event as well for the Islanders with a distance of 5.83 meters.
"We were so fortunate to get Kassandrea here five years ago," Flanagan said. "She has just been rock solid gold since she got here with no let up. Some kids fall off over the years, but she obviously is still tremendous and we're looking for big things from her tomorrow in the triple jump and relays. Her performance is a credit to Coach Bungard and the jumps program here."
A&M – Corpus Christi also got a standout performance from Cecy Gonzalez (Corpus Christi/Carroll) in the steeplechase. Gonzalez finished in a time of 10:54.96, just five seconds behind winner Randi Plentl, to take second place and earn eight points for the women. It was just under a second off the school record and set a personal best for the sophomore. Melissa Jones (10th, 11:55.83), Meghan Wedgworth (15th, 12:44.90) and Chelsey Arambula (16th, 13:19.08) also took part in the event.
Brandi Huff (Rockport-Fulton) also had a full day for the Islanders, competing simultaneously in the high jump and shot put. Going back and forth between the events, the sophomore posted a personal-best and school record 14.17 meters in the shot to take sixth place and earn three points for her team. She was unable to score in the high jump, though, failing to clear 1.68 meters to finish ninth with a height of 1.63. Jasmine Roberson posted an 18th-place finish in the shot put at 11.58 meters.
On the men's side, Roger De La Cruz delivered the biggest performance of day two, finishing third in the men's high jump with a height of 2.15 meters for a new school record. De La Cruz was awarded six points for his team. Quincy Obeng finished 12th in the event with a height of 1.95 meters. Obeng also took part in the long jump, where he finished 22nd with a distance of 6.80 meters. In the men's steeplechase, Daniel Barlow finished 11th with a time of 9:39.12, while Jacob Abrego (17th, 10:12.08) and Julian Pfeiffer (19th, 10:16.47) also competed.
The remainder of the events were preliminaries, with the finals to be run tomorrow. In the men's 1,500 meters, the Islanders swept the top three spots, winning both heats. Freshman Philipp Baar led the way in one heat with a time of 3:58.00, with fellow frosh Paul Hansel just behind him in 3:58.98. Junior Patrick Kimeli also qualified by winning his heat in 4:00.55.
The Islanders also saw two runners advance to Sunday's 800-meter finals, as Brandon Lacy won his heat with a time of 1:52.26 and Valentinas Rudys finishes second in his with a time of 1:52.12. Wesley McGhee failed to advance with his time of 1:56.47. William Scott narrowly missed advancing to the finals of the 400-meter hurdles, finishing ninth in a time of 53.99. Cordarius Franks finished 17th in the prelims of the 400-meter dash in a time of 49.13, while David Carillo was 15th in the 100-meter dash in 10.81.
In the women's prelims, Shakelia Coleman advanced to the finals of both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. In the 100, she finished in a school-record time of 11.62 seconds, while Son narrowly missed advancing after finishing in 11.79. Ernestine Cray (11.83), Ashley Rosebrough (12.02) and Brianeka Harris (12.36) also took part in the event.
In the 200, Coleman posted a time of 24.08 to advance to tomorrow's finals, while Son (24.36) and Rosebrough (24.37) narrowly missed advancing. In the 1500, Danielle Higgins moved to the finals with a time of 4:41.39. In the 800 meters, Jasmine Boutte (2:14.29) was edged for the last spot in the finals, while Sidney Siepert (2:19.07) also failed to advance. In the women's 400-meter hurdles, Felisha Salinas (1:04.72) and Courtney Padron (1:06.35) did not make it to the finals with their times.
Live results for the 2012 Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship will be posted here. Updates will also be posted on Twitter @IslandersTFXC.
