BATON ROUGE, LA – The beginning of a new year signals the start of the track and field season. Southern University got their first action at the LSU Purple Tiger inside the Carl Maddox Field House. The Jaguars came away with multiple top-10 finishes, including taking the men's 4x400 crown.
 
Things got started early with the women's weight throw. Logan Lewis would start with a solid throw of 14.63m that would have put her fifth in the final standings, but on her third throw, she would set a personal record of 14.97m to move her up in the standings for a third-place finish. Lawrenee' Hart would not be far behind, with her third throw of 14.72m she would settle just outside the podium for a fourth-place finish.
 
Lewis would come back in shot put at start with an initial throw of 12.52m, and would come back with her fifth attempt of 13.00m to give her a second podium finish at second. Hart would finish in the top-10 for a second event with her third throw of 12.09m. Keenan Villery (13.96m) and Kolby Mathews (12.51m) would also finish in the top-10 on the men's side. Villery finished in fourth and Matthews finished eighth.
 
Clydeterrious Thompson would start his career as a Jaguar with the long jump. His first attempt of 7.17m would put him in the lead early, but would not be able to improve his mark and finish in fourth. Kevon Hamilton would set a personal best of 6.84m to settle in ninth. On the women's side, Azariah Foster began her collegiate career with an eighth-place finish with a distance of 5.37m.
 
Yahria Bass and Soteria Gibbs would finish sixth and seventh in the triple jump. Bass had a distance of 11.01m on her fourth attempt and Gibbs would finish at 10.76m. On the men's side, Hamilton would have a distance of 15.19m on his second attempt to settle in third, while Demarion Sowell would get a distance of 12.21m on his fifth attempt for seventh.
 
The track events started with the 60m hurdles where Jordan Thompson would win his heat with a time of 8.08. He would come back in the finals to set a personal record of 7.92, giving him a third-place finish. Devin Sowell would set his on record with a time of 8.70.
 
The distance runs are where Sierra Session and Nicholas Scott excel. Sessions would set a PR at 1:46.97 in the 600m, while Scott would finish with a bronze in his race with a time 1:20.22, just 0.29 seconds behind first.
 
A loaded field of 56 athletes, including four Olympians, Trinity Bolden ran her way into the final qualifying spot for the finals with a time of 7.56 in the 60m. She would come back in the finals with a time of 7.48 for a fifth-place finish overall and first among college athletes. A total of 0.36 seconds separated Bolden and the top Olympian. DeAnthony Nervis and Clydeterrious Thompson would qualify on the men's side with times of 6.84 and 6.89 respectively. Nervis finished the finals with a time of 6.90 for fifth, while Clydeterrious Thompson would finish in sixth at 6.97.
 
Shani Simon, Trinity Kirk and Malaysia Sinegal would all finish in the top-10 of the 400m. Simon came in sixth with a time of 1:02.29, Kirk was ninth at 1:05.04, and Sinegal was 10thg at 1:05.91.
 
After a strong cross-country season, Camille Lewis would start her Southern track career in the 800m. She would finish with a time of 2:23.44 for a second-place finish. Rushane Miller, Ta'Cardrick Alexander and Bryce Campbell also had strong showings on the men's side. Miller finished in third at 2:00.68, while Alexander (2:01.86) and Campbell (2:07.13) would finish in fourth and sixth, respectively.
 
Another new face to the team, Nadia Thomas, came out and gave a strong first performance. Thomas would finish in second for the 200m with a time of 26.3.
 
The final events of the day saw the team of Simon, Kirk, Sinegal and Lewis team up in the women's 4x400. They would finish in sixth with a time of 4:08.66. The men would have two teams finish in the top-seven. The team of Jordan Thompson, Scott, Nervis and Clydeterrious Thompson would finish a full two seconds ahead of the next fastest team to take home the crown with a time of 3:21.02. Alexander, Miller, Terrell Chevalier and Campbell finished with a time of 3:30.65 to finish seventh.
 
UP NEXT
Southern will travel to the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama for the Samford Open on January 20 and Samford Invite on January 21.

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