May 15, 2010

ARLINGTON, Texas - Junior distance runner Kadi Whisnant lived up to her billing as the best steepler in the Southland Conference as the Baton Rouge native claimed her first career Southland Conference championship with a first place time of 10:53.47 in the 3K steeplechase on day two of the three-day Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Whisnant, the only Southland runner to clock in under 11 minutes in the steeple this year, posted her third sub-11 minute time of the season on Saturday. The St. Michael the Archangel product blew away the competition, finishing more than 12 seconds ahead of Stephen F. Austin's Randi Wymer.

Whisnant's title is the Colonels' second individual championship of the weekend (senior javelin thrower Leslie Bourgeois's championship performance in the javelin on Friday was the first), and added ten more points to the Colonel cause.

After totaling 20 points on the first day of competition, Whisnant pushed the Colonels past their previous school record for team points at the Southland meet. The 2009 version of the Colonels totaled a program record 23 points en route to an school-best 11th place finish at the conference meet.

After two days of competition, Nicholls stands in fourth place, just 1.5 points behind third place Texas State and three points behind second place Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. However, hot on the Colonels' heels are McNeese State, Texas-San Antonio, Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana. All four schools head into the final day of competition within 11 points of the Colonels.

The second through ninth place teams are separated by just 14 points. However, Stephen F. Austin, the heavy favorite on the women's side, has begun to run away and hide from the rest of the field. The Ladyjacks' depth has proven critical, as SFA totaled a whopping 66.5 points on day two of competition to increase their point total to 90.5, 57.5 points ahead of second place TAMUCC.

The Colonels will try to hold their ground on Sunday during the final day of competition. Nicholls will look for points from freshman Brea Goodman in the 1500 m, after the distance runner qualified with a seventh-place finish of 4:46.20 in the preliminaries on Saturday.

Also taking to the track on Sunday will be sophomore sprinter Samantha Calhoun. The Morgan City native advanced to the finals of a deep 100 m field thanks to a fifth-place time of 11.83 in the preliminaries on Saturday. Calhoun will return in an attempt to help the Colonel 4x100 m and 4x400 m relay teams to point-scoring finishes on Sunday.

Finally, Lauren Jones, fresh off setting a school record and picking up five points in the 10 K on Friday, will return for the 5,000 m run on Sunday. Action begins at 10:30 a.m. at Maverick Stadium in Arlington.

For up-to-date scheduling and results, fans can visit the Southland Conference's Championship site at www.southland.org.