June 21, 2007

HOUSTON, Tex. - Sam Houston State won its first ever women's Southland Conference indoor track and field championship on Saturday at the University of Houston's Yeoman Fieldhouse.

The Bearkats scored 135 points and ran away from Texas State (112.92 points), Texas-Arlington (98.142), Stephen F. Austin (85.29) and Lamar (84.14), which rounded out the top five. Texas-San Antonio (67), Northwestern State (34.50), Southeastern Louisiana (28) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (12) finished at Nos. 6-9, while Nicholls (4) and McNeese State (2) filled out the remaining field in 10th and 11th place, respectively.

The Colonels' 4X400-meter relay team highlighted the day for Nicholls, as the four-member team of La-Nation McCray, Latasha Bishop, Chelsea Dockrey and Nicoya Hutcherson set a new school record with a time of 4:02.80.

In the only other event which saw a Colonel competing, distance runner Eunice Jepkogei moved into fifth place all-time at Nicholls with a time of 11:18.71 in the 3,000-meter run, also a personal best.

Sam Houston State dethroned two-time defending champion Stephen F. Austin, which finished fourth with 85.28 points.

The Bearkats' Jessica Fisher scored 0 points by winning the 60 and 200-meter dashes. She crossed the line first ahead of teammate Regina Offord with times of 7.50 and 7.65, respectively, to give SHSU 18 points in that event. In the 200, Fisher was tops with a mark of 24.30 in the finals.

Lamar's Clerc Koenck was the individual high-point score in the women's division with 22.5 points. She won the 3,000-meter run in a time of 9:49.08 as Lamar placed one, two, three in the event. Amanda King placed second (9:52.52) and Renee Graham (9:54.64) third. Koenck also won the mile in a time of 4:51.66. Koenck was a part of the winning distance medley relay team that posted a time of 12:03.03 on Friday.

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