Kendall Bass, Allison Ferries win Southland gold medals
5/10/2008 1:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Kendall Bass became the Bearkats' first 2008 Southland Conference women's track and field champion Saturday afternoon, winning the shot put on her last of six throws.
Bass's winning throw was 44 feet, 6.75 inches (13.58 meters), surpassing Frednisha Marshall of Stephen F. Austin who put the shot 44 feet, 4.25 inches on her second throw of the day.
Allison Ferries won the last event of the day, taking the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 11:14.58. Whitney Rister was the runner up with a 11:14.73 clocking.
Sam Houston State stands in third place after the second day of the meet. Stephen F. Austin leads with 73.33 points, followed by Texas State-San Marcos 63, Sam Houston 58, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 27, Southeastern Louisiana 27, McNeese State 24, UTSA 15.66, Northwestern State 15, Nicholls State 6, and Texas-Arlington 3.
Bass, a senior, had a memorable day. In her last Southland Conference meet, Bass wanted to make the most of it. She was sitting in fourth place with a distance of 13.09 meters with just one attempt left. She stepped into the circle and launched the shot 13.58, which allowed her to climb into first place and capture the gold medal after Northwestern State's Trecey Rew fouled on her last attempt to earn valuable points for the Bearkat women, who are looking to win the overall team championship.
“With the favorite (Rew) not having her best day, it gave me an opportunity. I kind of felt like I got lucky,” Bass said.
Bearkats sophomore Jessica Fisher also had a good showing and set herself up pretty well in the 100- and 200-meter dash finals today. She won both races at the outdoor championships last season in Nacogdoches.
Having already qualified for the NCAA regionals, Fisher finished second in both the 100 prelims with a time of 11.62 seconds and in the 200 (23.8). Texas-Arlington's Jasmine Walls (11.58 in 100, 23.41 in 200) was the top qualifier in both events.
“I came in with a whole lot of confidence,” Fisher said. “We'll see what tomorrow brings. I'm feeling great. I feel like I'm going to keep being the champion. It's not as easy as it was last year, but it's going to take a lot of hard work on my part.”
Looking to repeat as the 400-meter dash champion, Sam Houston's Michael Courtney took a big step toward that with a top time of 46.67 in the preliminary round.
“I just wanted to come out here in the preliminaries and win my heat,” Courtney said. “I'm glad that I was able to do that today. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to defend the 400 championship.”
Freshman Dess Meek was a double medalist for the Bearkats on Saturday. After taking third place in the long jump, she won the silver medal after tying with McNeese State's Lindsay Brooks in the high jump, clearing 1.7 meters. Texas State's Valerie Hancock won the gold after jumping 1.75 meters.
“It was a semi-decent day,” a frustrated Meek said after the high jump competition ended. “I always want first. I guess I can take it in that it's my freshman year and you can't win everything. I guess I'm just a bad sore-loser.
“I've jumped that height before, but I guess it just wasn't my day.”
The Bearkats had 13 other men and women qualify for today's running finals.
On the women's side, Jordan Heggie, Tiana Lee and Tywanisha Spiller qualified for the finals in the women's 1,500-meter run. Tiffany Singleton and Desiree Taylor qualified for the 400-meter dash, with Singleton carrying in the preliminary's best time.
Lee, Dakota Stewart and Brittany Henson look to earn some points for the women's team, as all three bring times in the top five in the women's 400-meter hurdles.
Two other Bearkats scored in the shot put as Christina Webb finished fourth with a throw of 43 feet, five inches and Ebonne Stephens tossed 39 feet, four inches. Mallory Adams was ninth at 36 feet, 9.5 inches.
Bass and Kim Olison finished third and fourth in the hammer throw Friday. Bass threw 165 feet 4 inches and Olison 163 feet 2 inches. Christina Webb, Mallory Adams, and Ebonee Stephens finished ninth, 10th, and 11th, respectively.
Tiffany Singleton (54.05) was the top qualifier in the 400 meter dash prelims and Tiana Lee (1:01.77) led the 400 meter hurdles qualifying. Jessica Fisher was second in the qualifying for the 100 meters (11.62) and the 200 meters 23.80. Hammer Throw 3 Kendall Bass 50.40m 165-04 4 Kim Olison 49.74m 163-02 9 Christina Webb 43.91m 144-01 10 Mallory Adams 42.19m 138-05 11 Ebonee Stephens 36.49m 119-09 Shot Put 1 Kendall Bass 13.58m 44-6.75 4 Christina Webb 13.23m 43-5 8 Ebonee Stephens 11.99m 39-4 9 Mallory Adams 11.21m 36-9.5 Long Jump 3 Dess Meek 6.09m 19-11.75 High Jump 2 Dess Meek 1.70m 5-7 3000 Meter Steeplechase 1 Allison Ferries 11:14.58 2. Whitney Rister 11:14.73
1500 Meters Prelims 14 Molly Farrell 5:00.11 100 Meter Hurdles Prelims 3 Jordan Heggie 14.04Q 5 Tiana Lee 14.07Q 6 Tywanisha Spiller 14.23Q 400 Meters Prelims 1 Tiffany Singleton 54.05Q 5 Desiree Taylor 54.94Q 13 Monika May 58.27 14 Ashley Casalini 58.33 100 Meters Prelims 2 Jessica Fisher 11.62Q 7 Regina Offord 11.93Q 18 Taniqua Busby 12.29 800 Meters Prelims 19 Ashley Johnson 2:30.11 400 Meters Hurdles Prelims 1 Tiana Lee 1:01.77Q 2 Dakota Stewart 1:02.45Q 5 Brittany Henson 1:03:48Q 200 Meters Prelims 2 Jessica Fisher 23.80Q 7 Regina Offord 24.33Q 23 Taniqua Busby 25.63
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
Friday, May 9 through Sunday, May 11 Meredith and Miriam York Track Complex at Bowers Stadium Huntsville, Texas
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