Feb. 27 2006

A heroic effort from Southern's Monica Robinson, was not enough, as the Alabama State women held on to their first-day lead, and went on to the team title Sunday afternoon at the Southwestern Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships held at LSU's Carl Maddox Field House.

The Southern women led briefly after strong showings in the sprints, but came up short to an Alabama State squad that flexed its collective muscles in the field and distance events.

Alabama State and Southern took turns jockeying for the lead throughout the day, and ASU finally prevailed with 132 points. Southern tallied 127 while third-place went to Grambling at 105.

The Lady Hornets trailed Southern by 11 points prior to the 5,000-meter run, but ASU got a 1-2 finish that event, and then held on to the baton in the 1,600 relay to secure the team title.

Monica Robinson proved to be one the busiest and best athletes at the meet, with a wins in the 60m hurdles and high jump; second in the long jump; third in the 60m dash, and fifth in the triple jump. Robinson totaled 39 points to earn the meet's Outstanding Field Performer Award.

But her effort wasn't enough to help the Lady Jaguars overcome Alabama State, which moved out to a huge lead before the running events began. The Lady Hornets had a 1-2 finish in the pole vault, and a 1-2-3 placement in the weight throw.

Kaisha Weeks won the 60m dash and Earldreka White also won the triple jump. Lauren Fisher finished second in the 400m, and PAmela Coakcerham finished second, tying Robinson in the 60m.

"We didn't start adding points until two o'clock," said Southern coach Johnny Thomas, alluding to the early morning start for field events.

"But we gave them a run for their money," he said. "We had a few injuries along the way, and we couldn't run our regular mile relay, but we're not crying. They beat us, and the best team won.

Women's Team Scoring

On the men's side, defending champion, the Jackson State Tigers, dominated the running events, capturing multiple championships in the races, winning with 176.50 points. The Tigers won by a margin of 48.5 points over runner-up Prairie View A&M University, the 2005 Cross Country Champions. Grambling State finished third with 92 points, while the Southern Jaguars finished fourth with 82.50 points.

The Southern Jaguar men were shut out of winning any events, but managed second place finishes in the 200m (Robert Delmore); 60m hurdles (Carrie Steed); and the 4 x 400m relay (Leon Citizen, Robert Delmore, Albert Turner, Kylon Wishom). Wishom also finished third in the 400m.

Men's Team Scoring