April 20, 2013

WALNUT, Calif. - Joe Wade started things off strong for the Lamar track team, putting up a conference-best time in the 3,000 meter steeplechase on Thursday, and the rest of the Cardinals followed his lead as the Mt. SAC Relays came to a close at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

Wade, a graduate student out of Isle of Wight, England, recorded a time of 8:56.41 to finish second in his section behind Southern Indiana's Michael Jordan. The time currently ranks as the top mark in the Southland Conference.

Joining Wade atop the conference leaderboard on Thursday was the trio of Matt Johnsen, Ash Harrell and Ryan Creech. Johnsen topped his previous season-best time in the 10,000 meter run with a mark of 30:00.14 to further entrench is top ranking in the SLC. Creech and Harrell joined the Australian at the top with times of 30:21.24 and 31:19.49 to rank second and third, respectively.

On Friday, just Becky Gough and Sam Stabler were slated to compete as both ran in the 5,000. Gough became the first female conference athlete this season and just the third Lady Card ever finish the race in under 17 minutes with a time of 16:54.49. Stabler, who entered ranked fifth in the conference, improved his time by over 20 seconds by completing the race in 14:22.25 to move to second, trailing just Wade. 

Following Saturday's J. Fred Duckett Twilight Meet, Lamar will split up once more for the Texas State Bobcat Classic and Stanford Payton Jordan Invitational next weekend before coming together for the Southland Outdoor Championships next month.

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