BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – McNeese Cowgirl weight thrower Mariah Lee was the big winner for McNeese on day one of the 2024 Southland Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships Sunday, winning gold in her specialty event while the Cowgirls will head into the final day in fifth place as a team with 29 points.
 
The Cowboys collected 27 points on the day and are in a three-way tie for fourth place with Southeastern and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. UIW leads the men's standings while Northwestern State tops the women's.
 
Lee, last year's silver medal winner in the event, won by more than five feet on Sunday with a throw of 62-07.75, which she marked on her fifth of six attempts. Her first throw of 59-00 would've won gold by nearly two feet.
 
The other medal won on the day was by the Cowgirls' distance medley relay team comprised of Jasmine Perez, Kayla Warner, Irene Barreiro-Lopez and Grace Sullivan. The quartet clocked a time of 12:02.48 to capture the bronze medal.
 
The Cowgirls qualified a host of runners to Monday's finals including four in the 800-meters that include Warner, Sullivan, Barreiro-Lopez and Nia Riley.
 
Warner clocked the fastest time of all qualifiers at 2:13.33 while Sullivan recorded the third-fastest in the prelims at 2:17.17 to set a new personal record. Riley timed out at 2:17.58 for a new PR and Barreiro-Lopez recorded the sixth-fastest time in the prelims at 2:17.78.
 
Sprinter Latavia Jack ran a 7.57 for a second-place finish in Heat 1 to qualify for Monday's finals. Also qualifying to the finals were Kayla Harrison (56.02) in the 400m and Jeny Barcenas in the mile run where she ran the second-fastest in the prelims at 5:06.67.
 
On the men's side, the Cowboys had eight qualifiers into Monday's finals.
 
Omer El-Fadl qualified in two events – 800m (1:53.19) and mile run (4:17.96). The Cowboys qualified two other runners to the 800 finals – Alex Martin who ran the third-fastest time in the prelims at 1:53.13, and Filippo Squassina with a 1:53.26.
 
Jalon White also qualified in two events – the 200-meters at 21.33 and the 400m with a time of 48.23 for the second-fastest time in the prelims. The fastest was clocked by teammate Ondray Miles with a 47.73.
 
Freshman sprinter Koen Beavers qualified to the 60-meter dash finals after he ran a 6.82.
 
The weight throw events were the big scorers as both the Cowboys and Cowgirls had three each score.
 
Following Lee's first place finish, Jaslyn Russell placed fifth with a throw of 51-11.25 for a new PR while Esmeralda Ruiz placed seventh with a mark of 51-09, also a PR.
 
The Cowboys finished 4-5-6 in the men's weight throw, led by Tyler Challis who threw 59-03.5. Marcus Francis followed with a fourth place and PR throw of 58-08.5 while Abner Johnson threw 57-05.5 and a PR to finish sixth.
 
Men's Team Scores after Day 1:
1, Incarnate Word 48; 2, Northwestern State 32; 3, Lamar 31; T4, McNeese 27; T4, Southeastern 27; T4, Texas A&M-CC 27; 7, TAMU-Commerce 17; 8, HCU 16; 9, New Orleans 8.
 
Women's Team Scores after Day 1:
1, Northwestern State 56; 2, Lamar 45; 3, Incarnate Word 39; 4, New Orleans 32; 5, McNeese 29; 6, Texas A&M-CC 10; T7, Nicholls 7; T7, TAMU-Commerce 7; 9, Southeastern 6; 10, HCU 3.
 
Sunday's Medal Winners:
Women's Weight Throw – Mariah Lee, Gold Medal
Women's DMR – Perez, Warner, Barreiro-Lopez, Sullivan, Bronze Medal
 
Monday Finals Qualifiers:
Men's 60m – Koen Beavers
Men's 200m – Jalon White
Men's 400m – Ondray Miles, Jalon White
Men's 800m – Alex Martin, Omer El-Fadl, Filippo Squassina
Men's Mile – Omer El-Fadl
Women's 60m – Latavia Jack
Women's 400m – Kayla Harrison
Women's 800m – Kayla Warner, Grace Sullivan, Nia Riley, Irene Barreiro-Lopez
Women's Mile – Jeny Barcenas
 
Sunday Personal Records:
Men's 60m – Kalen Beavers 6.887
Men's 200m – Kalen Beavers 21.93, Koen Beavers 22.01
Men's 800m – Abdullah Elkhair 1:54.25, Sullivan Hanna 1:58.76
Men's Mile – Sullivan Hanna 4:25.71
Men's 5000m – Gilbert Kimutai 14:40.30
Men's Weight Throw – Marcus Francis 58-08.50, Abner Johnson 57-05.50
Women's 200m – Latavia Jack 24.70, Chelsi Tatum 26.33
Women's 400m – Jashyra Thomas 56.80, Jordan Carter 57.00, Zaria Hamilton 59.95
Women's 800m – Grace Sullivan 2:17.17, Nia Riley 2:17.58
Women's 5000m – Marta Pascoa 17:33.45
Women's Long Jump – Iseoluwa Babarinde 16-8
Women's Weight Throw – Jaslyn Russell 51-11.25, Esmeralda Ruiz 51-09.0
 
Cowboys Results:
60m Prelims – Koen Beavers 6.82Q; Kalen Beavers 6.87 (PR); Samuel Gray 7.10.
200m Prelims – Jalon White 21.33Q; Kalen Beavers 21.93 (PR); Koen Beavers 22.01 (PR); Samuel Gray 22.63.
400m Prelims – Ondray Miles 47.73Q; Jalon White 48.23Q; Jaden Powell 49.49.
800m Prelims – Alex Martin 1:51.13Q; Omer El-Fadl 1:53.19Q; Filippo Squassina 1:53.26Q; Abdullah Elkhair 1:54.25 (PR); Colby Trahan 1:58.62; Sullivan Hanna 1:58.76 (PR); Obied Mohamed 2:02.82.
Mile Prelims – Omer El-Fadl 4:17.96Q; Sullivan Hanna 4:25.71 (PR); Kevin Kimaiyo 4:33.85; Evans Kemboi 4:40.80.
5000m – 4, Rolando Ortiz 14:33.97; 8, Gilbert Kimutai 14:40.30 (PR).
High Jump – 13, Michael Berry 6-2.
Long Jump – 7, Amire Ledet 23-04.75; 12, Michael Berry 22-07.
Pole Vault – 7, Logan Broussard 13-11.25.
Weight Throw – 4, Tyler Challis 59-03.50; 5, Marcus Francis 58-08.50 (PR); 6, Abner Johnson 57-05.50 (PR).
Distance Medley – 4, 10:02.31 (Martin, Powell, Squassina, Ortiz).
Hepathlon – 60m: 7, Logan Broussard 7.36, 8, Christian Malbreaux 7.41. High Jump: 5, Logan Broussard 6-0; 10, Christian Malbreaux 5-6. Long Jump: 8, Christian Malbreaux 20-10; 9, Logan Broussard 20-03.75. Shot Put: 7, Logan Broussard 35-00.25; 8, Christian Malbreaux 33-06.50. Total Points through 4 events: 7, Logan Broussard 2566; 8, Christian Malbreaux 2433.
 
Cowgirls Results:
60m Prelims – Latavia Jack 7.57Q; Makayla Heath 7.76; Chelsi Tatum 7.91; Chelsea Heggar 7.92; Tia Andrews 7.98.
200m Prelims – Latavia Jack 24.70 (PR); Kayla Harrison 24.81; Makayla Heath 25.63; Tia Andrews 26.07; Chelsi Tatum 26.33 (PR).
400m Prelims – Kayla Harrison 56.02Q; Jashyra Thomas 56.80 (PR); Jordan Carter 57.00 (PR); Zaria Hamilton 59.95 (PR).
800m Prelims – Kayla Warner 2:13.33Q; Grace Sullivan 2:17.17Q (PR); Nia Riley 2:17.58Q (PR); Irene Barreiro-Lopez 2:17.78Q.
Mile Prelims – Jeny Barcenas 5:06.67Q; Jasmine Perez 5:09.35.
5000m – 4, Marta Pascoa 17:33.45 (PR); 9, Sorcha Moloney 18:29.42.
Pole Vault – 6, Morgan Louvier 10-11.75.
Long Jump – 20, Iseoluwa Babarinde 16-8 (PR); 22, Chelsea Heggar 16-3.
Weight Throw – 1, Mariah Lee 62-07.75; 6, Jaslyn Russell 51-11.25 (PR); 7, Esmeralda Ruiz 51-09.0 (PR); 11, Madison Freeman 47-07.75; 16, Kinnady Hawkins 39-08.
Distance Medley – 3, 12:02.48 (Perez, Warner, Barriero-Lopez, Sullivan).