University of North Texas Athletics
Lady Eagles Claim First-Ever Conference Championship; Men Finish 3rd
5/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field/XC
DENTON (5/11/03) -- North Texas set school history on Sunday by amassing a record point total and claiming its first-ever women's outdoor conference track championship by racing away with the 2003 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field women's title at Fouts Field.
The Lady Eagles rolled up 179.66 total points to win their first league championship since 1986 when the women's program began league competition. The school's previous best finish in women's competition was last year's third place finish in the Sun Belt championships. Last year's 118.5 points were also the program's previous high mark.
For the third time in the last four years, North Texas head coach Rick Watkins was named the women's Sun Belt Coach of the Year. He previously won the honor twice in the men's division.
"It was an uanbelieveable weekend," said Watkins. "I don't know what else to say. Everybody was a part of this. A lot of people had their best effort in this meet and I think that's what it's all about. The girls fed off each other all weekend. They got stronger as the weekend went on. You can't every expect to dominate a meet like this, but they did."
The nearest competition in the women's bracket was second-place finisher Western Kentucky with 125 points. Third place Florida International ended with 104 points.
In the men's competition, North Texas finished in third place with 133.50 points, led by Michael Krebs' second place finish in the 800-meter run and the Mean Green's second-place finish in the 400-meter relay. Western Kentucky claimed the men's title with 171 points, followed by Middle Tennessee (163) and North Texas.
A 1-2 finish in the women's shot put by Latrecia Taylor and Ciji Brooks (left) provided the biggest boost for the Lady Eagles in taking home this year's outdoor championship trophy and the North Texas' third track and field title in the last four years. Taylor won the event with a school-record effort of 46-2.75, which also qualifies her for the NCAA regional meet later this month. Brooks, who tied the previous school mark earlier this spring, took second with a best effort of 44-10.25.
North Texas' women also got a victory in the javelin throw when Lakisha Gentry recorded the second-longest throw in school history and won with a toss of 137-4. And in the sprints, NT's Ananka Clark earned valuable points in the both dashes, racing to second place in the 100-meters with a time of 11.76 and finishing third in the 200-meters with a 23.90 time. Clark has previously qualified for the NCAA regional meet in both events.
Tiffanie Jordan also earned a trip to the NCAA regional meet by winning the women's triple jump by more than foot. Her qualifying mark of 41-3 won the event over second place Linda Loussaint of Florida International, whose best effort was 40-2.
North Texas' dominance on the women's side was also reflected in the 100-meter hurdles event, in which Janisha Warren finished second to lead the Lady Eagles taking three of the top four places. Warren clocked a time of 14.28 in front of Brooks in third (14.40) and Rhatisha Scott in fourth (14.49).
In the men's 800-meters, Krebs finished a close second behind Arkansas-Little Rock's Dmitry Shokur, clocking 1:52.48 to Shokur's winning time of 1:51.66. And in the men's 400-meter relay, NT's foursome of Earnest Kelley, Robert Runnels, Arthur Cox and Nathan Roberts raced to second place with a time of 40.62.
Other key point producers on the men's side include Arthur Cox registering a season-best time of 48.0 to finish third in the 400-meters dash and Ryan Lancon finishing third in the pole vault with a best effort of 15-11. North Texas' Lupe Florez also earned points in the pole vault with a fifth-place effort of 14-11.
