NATCHITOCHES, Louisiana – The University of the Incarnate Word Men's and Women's Track and Field teams continued their historic pace at the Southland Outdoor Championships on Saturday, gaining two more conference titles, courtesy of Sarea Alexander (triple jump) and Rodney Littlejohn (decathlon).
 
Alexander took care of business in the triple jump, posting a 13.17m (43-2.5) on her third attempt to claim her first-career conference title in the event. She becomes the first Cardinal to win triple jump and just the third woman in the history of the Southland to win both the long and triple jumps at the same conference championships, first since 1988. She also became the first woman in Southland history to sweep both jumping events in indoor and outdoor conference in the same year.
 
Littlejohn was a warrior throughout the day in the Decathlon, battling rain, humidity and eventually darkness as the events went into the Louisiana evening. After starting the day 25 points outside of first, the San Antonio native battled his way through all five events of the day to earn a personal-best score of 7,248, etching his name in the record books as the first decathlon conference champion in program history.
 
The Cardinals distance crew scored points in the men's and women's steeplechase. In the women's race, freshman Alia Henderson announced her presence as a serious threat in the Southland by finishing fourth with a new PR of 11:13.29. Megan Hernandez was close behind, finishing in fifth at 11:15.18 while Danielle Martinez finished her UIW steeplechase career in eight at 11:34.17 to help the Cardinals bring home 10 points from the event. On the men's side, Adam Herrera and Garett Cortez finished fourth (9:14.08) and fifth (9:15.61) respectively, adding nine points to the men's team.
 
The other points scored on the day came from the men's and women's triple jumps. Keira Taylor-Mathis soared through the air to secure fifth place at 12.19m (40-00). On the men's side, Kelechi Emeodi set a new season-best at 14.67m (48-1.75) to place esevenh, capturing two critical points for the men.
 
There were seven running prelims for the men and women today with multiple Cardinals earning spots in tomorrow's final events. The full list of finals qualifiers is listed below, including a phenomenal six qualifiers in the women's 1500, three in the men's 1500, three in the women's 100m dash and three in the men's 800m.
 
After two days the UIW women rest in fourth place overall with 38 points and the men sit in fifth with 25 points. Both will have plenty of opportunities to climb the standings on the final day with the running event finals.  
 
Men's 100m: Andrew Leuthner – 10.56
Women's 100m: Deja Keys – 11.79 | Breanna Ransom - 11.88 | Jerica Love – 11.91
Women's 100H: Jerica Love – 13.64 (top qualifying time)
Women's 200m: Deja Keys – 23.87
Women's 400m: Tiffani Mays – 55.50 |Erekha Sebastion – 56.50
Men's 400H: Collin Sepulveda ­– 54.41
Men's 800: Deion Hardy – 1:53.19 | Jorge Quintero – 1:54.14 | Jordan Cherin 1:55.49
Women's 800m: Itzel Alcantar-Herrera – 2:15.58 | Dominique Allen 2:15.84
Men's 1500m: Garett Cortez – 3:57.23 (top qualifying time) | Deion Hardy – 3:57.31 | Jorge Quintero – (3:58.06)
Women's 1500m: Itzel Alcantar-Herrera – 4:43.57 (top qualifying time) | Alia Henderson – 4:43.80 | Katherine Ramirez – 4:46.90 | Megan Hernandez – 4:47.04 | Maddie Marrone – 4:47.41 | Ivette Alcantar-Herrera – 4:48.01
 
Live video streaming of the 2019 Southland Championships will be available through the Southland Conference Digital Network. Broadcasts can be found via southlanddigitalnetwork.com and on Southland Conference apps.

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