BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
Luke Parker broke the Lamar University 800-meter record on the second and final day of the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham Complex to lead the Cardinals to a sixth-place finish. Both the LU men's and women's teams finished sixth, with the men scoring 49 points and the women 53.
Throughout the meet, the Cardinals collected six medals with four silver and two bronze. The LU men recorded two of the all-conference finishes, while the women had four.
Stephen F. Austin claimed the men's team championship with 157 points while UT Rio Grande Valley scored 128 to earn the women's team title.
Parker was five hundredths of a second off first place as he finished with a time of 1:51.19. This bested the previous school mark held by former Cardinal great Joe Wade (1:51.44 back in 2011).
John Sanderson ran in the 60-meter hurdle finals and claimed second with his time of 7.98 seconds. He trailed overall winner Cheyne West (East Texas A&M) by seven hundredths of a second.
Ke'Asia Hall's silver medal came in the triple jump, where she recorded a jump of 12.33m (40-05.50). This stood as the furthest mark through five jumps before being eclipsed by Houston Christian's Layloni Watson (12.52m/41-1.00) on the sixth and final attempt.
After taking silver in the 5,000m Wednesday,
Ashton Rainey added her all-conference honor when she took third in the 3,000m with a new personal best of 9:44.98. The Ocean Spring, Miss. sophomore started the race in the back of the pack before reaching the top five at the 1,400m mark, where she remained for the rest of the race.
Cameron Chin came within a tenth of a second from earning all-conference honors in the 400m dash as he crossed the line fourth with a time of 47.31. Teammate
Ethan Ellis finished one spot behind at 47.78.
The Cardinals will wait to see if anyone qualified for the NCAA National Championship meet, which will be held in Fayetteville, Ark. The season will shift outdoors beginning Saturday, March 28th, in Prairie View for the Prairie View A&M Relays.
