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The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Young breaks school record at Hurricane Invitational

    Alex Young

    CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Lions track and field teams got everything they wanted and then some from the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational on Saturday at the University of Miami’s Cobb Stadium.

    Senior Alex Young shattered the school record with the best hammer throw in the nation in 2017. Junior Devin King followed with the No. 2 pole vault nationally, while the team of seniors Dontrell Lyons, Ashley Riley, Maverick Bowleg and Andre Colebrook ran the fifth-fastest 4×400-meter relay of the outdoor season.

    “We had a fantastic meet,” Head Coach Sean Brady said. “We checked all the boxes of the things we wanted to accomplish. I thought our kids competed extremely well. It was a great opportunity for us to see some good competition. A lot of nationally-ranked teams were here and we’re leaving this meet and people are knowing who Southeastern is, I can tell you that. We brought a small group and every person today was either top eight or contributed in some way.”

    Young shattered the school’s record in the hammer throw by 11 feet, 7 inches in winning with a mark of 233-09 on his final attempt. Jonathan Kinchen had set the previous mark of 222-02 at the 2015 Southland Conference Championships. Young’s throw is also tops in the nation in 2017 by 8-07 and beat his previous best of 221-03, set at the NACAC U23 Championships this past July. His collegiate best had been 218-02 at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor National Championships.

    “He’s picked up right where he’s left off coming out of the USA Nationals, opening up with a PR and a school record,” Brady said of Young, who won the USATF Indoor national championship in the weight throw earlier this month. “He just continues to get better and better. The things he is doing right now and the level he is operating on is just amazing.”

    Young went in to finish third in the shot with a season-best 58-01.25 and was 10th in the discus at 151-08.

    King, competing in his first outdoor meet of the season, cleared 18-02.5 to win by 1-07.75. That mark ranks first in the East region and is second to South Dakota’s Chris Nilsen’s 18-06.5 this season.

    “He had a super start to his outdoor season,” Brady said. “He went out at 5.65 meters and had two really nice attempts at the bar. He handled some conditions that were not the best. It unusually windy here today and from that prospective, Devin handled himself really well. He had another good meet and another win, but more than that, I think that was a real confidence booster.”

    The 4×400 relay team finished first in 3 minutes, 9.14 seconds, beating host Miami by 1.35 seconds. That time ranks second in the East region in 2017.

    “They closed the show like we had hoped,” Brady said. “We were hopeful we would see some good competition and we did. They are going to be one of those teams at the end of the year that if we stay healthy, I believe can advance through regionals and get to nationals.”

    Colebrook earlier won the 400 hurdles in 51.88 seconds. Riley, Lyons and Bowleg all placed in the top six in the 400 meters with Riley coming in second in 47.68 seconds, Lyons setting a personal best with a third-place time of 47.77 and Bowleg placing sixth in 48.49.

    Bowleg, seniors Deandre Henderson and Woodard and junior Cliff Resais ran a 41.18 for fourth in the 4×100 relay. Henderson later placed sixth in the 200 with a career-best 21.46. Resais, running the 200 for the first time as a Lion, came in 13th in 21.79. Woodard finished seventh in the 400 hurdles in 54.29.

    Senior Collin Rowland finished second in the javelin with a throw of 194-0. Senior Gennard Paul was fourth at 17-08.

    Sophomore Marcell Kecskemety took third in the discus with a personal-best 167-00 and was also fourth in the shot put at 56-05.7.

    On the women’s side, freshman Ashley Davis had a fourth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 49-02.25.

    Sophomore Dekayta Alex placed fifth in the 400 in 56.23.

    Junior Addie Shafer threw 144-10 for sixth in the javelin. Junior Natalia Redondo was also sixth in the hammer at 169-07.

    There has been a change in the schedule for this upcoming week. A select group of athletes will compete in the Texas Relays starting Thursday while another group will be at the Mississippi College Twilight Invitational on Friday.

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