PITTSBURG, KS – The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs Track and Field team bring in a combined 15 team points on day one of the NCAA Division II National Championship held at the Robert W. Plaster Center is Pittsburg, Kansas. 
 
Florance Uwajeneza became an individual National Champion after taking first place in the 5,000-meter race and brought in 10 points for WT. On the field, sophomore Meadow Gallentine made the podium and brought in five points in her efforts in the weight throw. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior Florance Uwajeneza beat Adams State All-American Briana Robles for the first time in her career to claim the National Champion title in the 5,000-meter race. Uwajeneza was step-in-step with Robles throughout the 12.5 lap race. On the second to last lap, Uwajeneza made her move to go past the Adams State team of three and break away from the pack for a 15-yard lead. The senior from St. Paul, Minn. then went into a full out sprint for the last two laps to finish just 10 yards ahead of the rest. This is the first time in Uwajeneza's career that she took on the Adams State star and defeated her. 
 
Sophomore Meadow Gallentine broke the Lady Buffs weight throw record going 19.83m (65'-0), a record formally set by All-American standout Zada Swoopes. This was Gallentines first throw officially recorded over 19m. She placed 4^th overall and brought in five points to the Lady Buffs team total. This was Gallentines first national championship to qualaify for, both in indoor or outdoor. 
 
TOP 8 
Corrssia Perry and Laiten Greeson made it through their preliminaries to compete in the finals tomorrow. At the NCAAs only the top eight in the nation can make the finals. 
 
Perry made two finals in two events, the 200-meter and the 400-meter. She broke her own record that she set at WT in the 400-meter running under 54 seconds for the first time at 53.87 seconds. The fastest heats of the whole day took place in the womens 400-meter with 7 of the 8 finalists running personal best times. Perry has the top-5 times in WT history in the 400-meter indoor race. Within an hour, Perry had to compete in the 200-meter prelims where she came away with the 5^th fastest time of 23.87 and a spot in the final eight tomorrow. 
 
Laiten Greeson came into the 60-meter hurdles as the 16^th ranked athlete. This afternoon she finished with the 6^th fastest time going 8.55 seconds and tying her all-time best. Greeson overtook Lone Star Conference opponent Maricia Spence from Angelo State, who finished 9^th, marking this as the first time Greeson has beat Spence in competition. 
 
HOW THEY FINISHED
The Lady Buffs had a great showing in multiple events. Freshmen Joy Udo-Gabriel and Blessing Akintoye finished in the top-15 in the nation. Udo-Gabriel took 15^th in the 60-meter running 7.57 seconds. Akintoye ran for 13^th in the 400-meter going 54.80 seconds. Both freshmen put in great efforts to get to the national stage. 
 
Fellow freshman Sarah Koomson ran a personal best time of 16 minutes, 32.3 seconds in the 5,000-meter race to claim 12^th in the nation. In a stacked race that had four of the eight podium competitors from Adams State, Koomson held her own while being boxed in on the inside majority of the race. WT fans can tune in to watch Koomson, Uwajeneza and Eleonora Curtabbi in the 3,000-meter race tomorrow. Elise Leveel also ran a personal best going 16 minutes, 45.4 seconds in her national meet debut. 
 
TEAM SCORE
The Lady Buffs sit in 6^th place after day one of competition with 15 team points. All final events will take place tomorrow, March 9^th with five final events for West Texas A&M Lady Buffs.