Track & Field 5/11/2013 1:29:00 AM ArkansasState

A-State Track Sitting in First Place at SBC Championships

MIRAMAR, Fla. (5/10/13) – The first day of the 2013 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Outdoor Track and Field Champions this Friday (May 10) featured a strong showing by both Arkansas State University outdoor track and field teams as the Red Wolves presently occupy first place in the women's competition while the men's squad is tied for first.

The 2013 conference meet, which is being conducted at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Fla., and hosted by FIU, currently has the A-State women in first place with 42 points, 13 more than second-place Western Kentucky in the nine-team field and through three events scored. For the men, the Red Wolves are presently tied for the top spot with defending champion Western Kentucky as both teams have scored 12 points to date among the nine participants. South Alabama is one point behind in third place with 11 points followed by Middle Tennessee State's fourth-place 10 points after two events scored.

"We had a good day one and are about where we thought we would be,” said ASU head coach Jim Patchell. “We had three wins and a couple of conference records. We just need to perform well and keep the ball rolling for days two and three."

Arkansas State won three individual women's events to highlight the opening day as seniors Stephanie Foreman and Julia Agawu each placed first in the pole vault and discus, respectively. Foreman, a defending three-time ( 2010-12) SBC pole vault champion, set a new Sun Belt Championships record and a conference outdoor season best-ever mark of 13-08.25 (4.17m). Foreman surpassed her own conference standard of 13-01.50 (4.00m) at the 2009 league meet and eclipsed the 13-06.25/4.12m outdoor season record established in 2011. The mark set by the now 2013 All-SBC First-Team honoree represents the 17^th highest heighth overall nationally among the NCAA Division I outdoor qualifying marks and the 11^th best in the NCAA West Region this spring to date. Julia Agawu also established a new conference meet record in the discus with a personal-record toss of 179-01.21 (54.59m) in the first event final. Agawu, who captured first place in the discus at the SBC Outdoor Championships for the third consecutive year, not only bettered her personal career-best 169-01.53/51.55m performance at the 2012 league meet (5/11/12) but exceeded the conference meet record distance of 179-00/54.56m held by Troy's Tiphanie Baker in 2009.

Junior Kristina Aubert secured first place in the 10,000-meter run by clocking a 36:04.62 time to earn her second conference 10,000 meter crown after winning the event in 2012 during her freshman season.

In the heptathlon, sophomore Savannah Hutchinson leads the Red Wolves with a fifth-place 2,945 points total through the first four events. Hutchinson's highest finish was a second-place tie in the high jump as she cleared the bar at 5-06.00/1.68m.

Senior Ethan Turpen currently leads A-State in the multi-events competition with 3,838 points tallied in the first five decathlon events, which includes four runner-up placings in the 100-meter dash, 400-meter dash, high jump, and long jump. Turpen recorded an 11.07 time in the 100-meter dash, a 50.20 400-meter time, 6-06.73 (2.00m) in the high jump, and covered a distance of 22-06.07/6.86m in the long jump. Junior Will Oliver is currently in second with 3,723 points after winning the long jump at 23-09.04/7.24m and clearing 6-07.92 (2.03m) for first place in the high jump. Junior Thomas Ligon was tops among all decathletes in the shot put with a 44-09.01/13.64m and has presently accumulated 3,462 points, good for sixth place.

The Red Wolves were led in the discus throw by junior Richard Chavez, who finished third following a 170-00.93/51.84m toss.

This Saturday's (May 11) second day of the 2013 SBC Championships starts at 8 a.m (CT) with the conclusion of both the heptathlon and decathlon. The field events resume at 11:30 a.m. (CT) with the women's long jump while the first running event prelim is the women's 110-meter hurdles, beginning at 5 p.m. (CT). The third and final day of conference meet competition for the 2013 outdoor season is this Sunday (May 12).

2013 Sun Belt Conference Championships Team Scores – Day 1

Women

1. Arkansas State – 42 pts.

2. Western Kentucky – 29 pts.

3. South Alabama – 19 pts.

4. FIU – 8 pts.

4. Middle Tennessee – 8 pts.

6. Louisiana-Lafayette – 5 pts.

7. North Texas – 4 pts.

8. Georgia State – 1 pt.

8. Troy – 1 pt.

Men