[April 24, 2008]

By: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas winds up the regular season portion of its track and field season Saturday when they travel to participate in the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawk Classic in Monroe, La.

Both the Muleriders and Lady Muleriders got off to a late start this year as the late-winter snow March 7 caused them to miss their season-opener at the Hendrix College Invitational in Conway on March 8. As it was, SAU didn’t officially open the season until March 29 at the Rhodes College Invitational in Memphis, Tenn. Since then, they competed at the Northwestern State Invitational in Natchitoches, La., April 12, and this past Saturday at the Texas Christian Invitational in Fort Worth.

The season has seen some strong competition for Southern Arkansas’ teams as all three meets have featured numerous NCAA Division I teams as well as top-level division II opponents. Rhodes’ field featured the always strong host team, McMurry (Texas), and Ohio Wesleyan, and Northwestern State’s meet included the host team and other division I participants such as Lamar, Stephen F. Austin, and Central Arkansas. Obviously, the TCU event featured even bigger guns in the Horned Frogs, North Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and New Mexico, as well as Central Arkansas and Tarleton State (Texas).

SAU has held its own against the upper-level competition, especially the Lady Mulerider runners. With six of the eight distance athletes being freshmen, the team is extremely young, but packs a lot of punch. Junior Kendall Mears (Simms, Texas) and sophomore Michaela Krcova (Trnava, Slovakia) round out the team.

Mears, who leads Southern Arkansas, has broken two school records this season, finishing fourth in 18:35.3 in the 5,000 meter run at Rhodes and then serving up a winning 10:48.38 in the 3,000 at Northwestern State over contestants from Lamar and Stephen F. Austin. She also crushed opponents at TCU in the 5,000 with a winning time of 18:59.94, defeating five TCU runners in the process.

Not to be outdone, freshman Bailey Dulaney (Keller, Texas) has shattered SAU’s 800 meter record three times thus far, improving in each meet. She posted the initial record in a time of 2:23.47 finishing fifth at Rhodes, bettered that with a second-place finish of 2:22.80 at Northwestern, and then established the new mark with a 2:20.60 at TCU. Her time at TCU was good for second, just behind Horned Frog Ashley Young’s time of 2:19.99.

Freshman Heather Rochelle (Texarkana, Texas) has also been tearing up the track, scoring a second-place finish in the 1,500 with a 4:55.75, just behind a Lamar runner at Northwestern. She bettered that time at TCU with a 4:55.62, placing third behind only runners from TCU and North Texas. An honors student at Southern Arkansas, Rochelle also has a season-best of 2:25.36 in the 800, in eighth at Rhodes just behind Dulaney’s record-setter.

Krcova currently has season-bests of 2:26.22 in the 800 for eighth at TCU, and 5:13.99 in the 1500 for sixth place at Northwestern.

The rest of the Lady Mulerider freshmen sensations are Samantha Sparks (Bella Vista), Jessica Gadlin (Commerce, Texas), Sara Banman (Pottsboro, Texas), and Lindsay Spooner (Junction City). All competing in the 800, Sparks placed fourth with a 2:26.28 at Northwestern, Gadlin was 11th at TCU with a 2:34.78, and Banman was 31st in 2:40.74 at Rhodes.

Participating in the 1,500, Banman was 10th at TCU in a time of 5:43.56, while Spooner was 27th with a 6:00.08 at Rhodes.

Senior Chantal Scott (Little Rock) posted a jump of 15-9.50 in the long jump in finishing fourth at Rhodes.

The Muleriders have kept pace also, competing primarily in the sprint and distance events, and are also loaded in freshmen with seven total. Senior Brandon Suell (Galveston, Texas) and junior Michael Wooten (Houston, Texas) head up the squad, with Suell the lead sprinter and Wooten competing in the 800.

Suell has top times this year of 10.94 in the 100 for a seventh-place finish, and 22.23 in the 200 for 11th, both coming at Northwestern. Wooten placed 11th at TCU with a 2:02.31 in the 800.

SAU’s freshmen include Colton Connelly (Comfort, Texas), Nathan Blim (Lufkin, Texas), Ryan Davis (Winnsboro, Texas), Ryan Laws (Cabot), Dusty Hardin (Banks), Mickey Mojica (Royse City, Texas), and Robert Lampkins (Mineral Springs).

In the 5,000 this season, Connelly has posted a 16:15.65; Blim a 16:57.77; Hardin has a 17:12.12; Davis ran a 17:33.07; and Laws’ best has been a 17:55.30.

Hardin has also run a 2:06.08 in the 800 and had a 15th-place finish at Northwestern in the 400 with a 52.67.

Mojica has scored a 23.19 in the 200 and 51.58 in the 400.

Lampkins is the hurdler on the team, getting a season-best of 15.04 to finish fifth in the 110 at Rhodes.

Following the Louisiana-Monroe meet is the NCAA Division II South Region Championships in Atlanta, Ga.