NORMAN, OK- The No. 7 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs earned their 11
th consecutive Lone Star Conference Championships by winning with 252 team points. The second place Angelo State scored the second most with 155 points, giving the Lady Buffs a 97-point advantage.
Overall, the Lady Buffs had 10 student-athletes make the podium including four first place finishes and eight personal bests on day two of the LSC Championships.
BREAKING RECORDS
Florance Uwajeneza broke the LSC Championship record in the 3,000-meter race that was previously set in 2015 by Ewa Zaborowska *9:54.74) from Harding. Uwajeneza took gold in 9 minutes 30.7 seconds. She broke the 5,000-meter record on Friday as well. The distance squad swept the podium in the 3,000-meter race with freshman
Sarah Koomson right behind Uwajeneza going 9 minutes, 34 seconds for silver and
Eleonora Curtabbi finishing for bronze in 9 minutes, 46.6 seconds.
Eleonora Curtabbi also broke the LSC Championship record in the mile that was previously set in 2015 by Ewa Zaboroowska (4:58.78) of Harding. Curtabbi ran for gold in 4 minutes, 56.8 seconds.
Betty Bajika took silver in 5 minuites, 1 second making it a personal best time for her in the event and
Kalkidan Vincendeaux took bronze in 5 minutes, 3.2 seconds for a Lady Buff podium sweep.
MAKING THE PODIUM
Laiten Greeson finished second in the 60m hurdles running 8.62 seconds.
Raquel Chavez ran her personal best in the 800-meter at 2 minutes, 12.4 seconds and taking gold.
Miriam Zanovello was the only woman to jump over 12 meters in the triple jump going the distance at 12.46m. She finished with the gold medal.
PERSONAL BESTS
In total, there were 14 personal bests for the Lady Buffs over the two-day championship.
Laiten Greeson finished fourth in the heptathlon with 3,614 points giving her a career best while teammate
Elliot Harrison finished right behind in fifth with 3,585 points to also make it her career best. Both heptathletes made the WT top-10 in heptathlon with Greeson holding the 8
th best and Harrison the 9
th best.
In going the distance,
Betty Bajika with her silver medal bettered her mile time (5:01.09);
Raquel Chavez in the 800m (2:12.44);
Elise Leveel in the 5000-meter (9:55.59) making it the first time she has broken under 10 minutes in the event;
Lexi Maul also in the 5000-meter (10:08.12);
Audrey Uzoukwu in the triple jump (11.77m)l;
Arrianna Allen in the shopt put (12.61m);
Laiten Greeson in the hep long jump (5.57m);And
Hope Gray in the weight throw (16.13m).
TEAM FINISHES
(Place – Team- Points)
1
st- West Texas A&M – 252
2
nd – Angelo State – 155
3
rd – UT-Tyler – 75
4
th – TAMU-Kingsville - 51
5
th – Dallas Baptist – 43
6
th – Eastern New Mexico – 29
7
th – Midwestern State - 24
8
th – Lubbock Christian - 21
9
th – Oklahoma Christian – 10
10
th – Cameron - 2
COMING UP
The selections for the 2024 DII men's and women's indoor track and field championships will be released
Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. ET in a press release on NCAA.com.
The 2024 championships will take place Friday, March 8 through Saturday, March 9 at the Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kansas. Pittsburg State University will host the event. A total of 270 student-athletes per gender will qualify to the Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships through regular-season performances.
