ARLINGTON, Texas - The University of Central Arkansas men's and women's track and field teams combined to set seven records at the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships on Saturday. After the first two days of competition, the men's team is tied for eighth place with 11 points. The women are in 11th place with four points.
For the Bears, senior Sohji Izumi broke his own record in the javelin with a throw of 58.10 meters (190 ft.-7 in.), placing sixth. Junior Austin Emerson placed 14th and broke the school mark in the hammer throw at 40.96 meters (134 ft.-4 in.).
Freshman Jake Goode established a decathlon record of 5,030 points, placing ninth. The Conway native's highest event finish was in the 1,500 meter run, placing sixth in 5:24.26.
Sophomore Jaron Criswell placed fourth in the lone jump with a leap of 7.31 meters (23 ft.-11.75 in.). Sophomore Bobby Washington placed sixth in the high jump at 2.08 meters (6 ft.-9.75 in.).
Two Bears finished high enough in Saturday's preliminary races to move on to Sunday's finals. Freshman Tony Stewart placed fourth in the 1,500 meter prelims in 4:02.49. Sophomore Demarcus Harrison tied for seventh in the 400 meter hurdle preliminaries in 53.643 seconds.
Other top finishers for the Bears included: Sage Raphael in the 400 meters (10th, 48.18 sec.), Courtney Houff in the 200 meters (16th, 22.08 sec.), Phillip Boles in the 100 meter dash (17th, 11.00 sec.), De'Andrea Neal in the 800 meters (17th, 1:58.61) and Danny McBride in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (18th, 10:01.77).
Stephen F. Austin leads the men's field with 71 points, followed by UTSA (58), McNeese State (51), Southeastern Louisiana (45.5), Lamar (22), UT Arlington (18), Sam Houston State (16), Northwestern State (11), UCA (11), Texas State (7) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1.5).
The Sugar Bears broke four records, led by junior Mary Douglas, who ran the 400 meter preliminary in 55.64 seconds, placing fifth. Senior Rene Hooper will also compete in Sunday's final,, placing ninth in the 1,500 meter prelim with a school record 4:46.86.
Freshman Jasmine Ellis established the UCA heptathlon record with 4,434 points, placing fifth. She finished second in the heptathlon 200 meter dash in 25.91 seconds. Sophomore Heather Estetter broke UCA's 800 meter record in 2:17.00, finishing 16th.
Other top finishers for the Sugar Bears included: Tasha Bryles in the shot put (12th, 11.90 meters (39 ft.-.5 in.)), Ellis in the 100 meter hurdles (15th, 14.92 sec.), Knequila Pemberton in the 100 meter dash (16th, 12.45 sec.) and the 200 meters (15th, 25.56), Paige Houston in the 400 meter hurdles (18th, 1:11.97), Judith McGrew in the hammer throw (18th, 36.67 meters (120 ft.-4 in.)), Dacey Mitchell in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (19th, 12.32.87) and Megan Snow in the javelin (21st, 33.02 meters (108 ft.-4 in.).
SFA also tops the women's field with 90.5 points. They are followed by TAMUCC (33), Texas St. (30.5), Nicholls (30), McNeese (28), UTSA (27), SHSU (22), SLU (20), Northwestern St. (19), UTA (5), UCA (4) and Lamar (3).
Sunday's final day of competition will begin with the women's pole vault at 10:30 a.m.
