HOUSTON - Cardinal track & field continued its successful indoor season Friday at the Howie Ryan Invitational with 18 student-athletes from Lamar University capturing Top 10 finishes. Some of the best showings came from Webster Slaughter, the winner of the 400-meter dash, and second place finishes by both the men's and women's 4x400 relay teams.

"I am pleased with the progress we have made in the past two weeks," said head coach Trey Clark. "We need to have another good two weeks of training leading up to the conference championships later this month."

Big Red's impressive showings began in the women's 60-meter dash where Thai Williams put on a terrific show in the pre-lims (second, 7.67) and semi-finals (second, 7.56). In both the pre-lims and the semis she trailed only Alexis Gray from Texas Southern, and that result held in the finals where Gray took the top spot and three student-athletes from host school University of Houston snuck into the second, third, and fourth spots. William snagged fifth with a time of 7.61. The 60-meter hurdles produced a Top 10 showing as well; Paula Sprudzane captured seventh with a mark of 8.90 in the pre-lims and improved on that mark with a fifth-place result in the finals with a sprint of 8.92.

Ruta Okulic-Kazarinaite also had a Top 10 showing for the Cards in the women's 400-meter dash, finishing 10th with a time of 59.10, a new PR for the freshman from Vilnius, Lithuania. Lamar's other Lithuanian, Migle Muraskaite, had a great day as well with a sixth-place finish in the 800-meters (2:17.46) and a school record 42' 6.24" in the shot put for a ninth-place result.

The women's jump squad was well-represented in Friday's Top 10s with Keri Banks recording a mark of 5' 5" in the high jump, tying for fifth, and Parl Eelma extended her streak of great performances with a bronze in the long jump by hitting a mark of 18' 10.5". Williams joined Eelma in the Top 10 in the long jump with a distance of 18' 8.50" in her final attempt for fifth place.

Several Cardinal men had good days for Lamar as well, including Slaughter's 400-meter win with in a time of 48.13, his best time in the event this season. Mike Ford also finished in the Top 10 in the event; he came in 10th with a time of 50.33, his personal best. Brandon Lantau raced to a sixth-place finish in the men's 800-meters with a time of 1:57.39, Harry Halford made his debut for Lamar and wowed with a fifth place finish in the 3,000-meters in a time of 8:34.96, and James Stockings finished just four seconds behind Halford in the 3K for sixth place in 8:38.06. Talon Tilley breezed through the pre-lims and semi-finals of the 60-meter hurdles enroute to a fifth place finish with a time of 8.59.

The men's jump squad saw Ju'Vonta Conston capture seventh with a mark of 6' 4.75" in the men's high jump, Tylen Guidry come in third in the triple jump with a distance of 49' 8.25", and Javon McCray trail Guidry by an inch and a quarter in the triple jump to come in fourth (49' 7").

The women's and men's 4x400 relays saw stupendous results for Lamar with second place finishes for both teams. Taeylor Roquemore, Eelma, Okulic-Kazarinaite, and Muraskaite ran a combined 3:53.07 in the women's race and Keegan Crawford, Ford, Kyle Nelson, and Slaughter ran a mark of 3:19.20 in the men's event.