Published: May 30, 2009 12:12 am      

Dennis, Courtney advance to regional finals

SHSU eyes better results in meet’s second day

The first day of the NCAA Outdoor Midwest Region meet didn’t start off the way Sam Houston State coach Curtis Collier hoped for, but it also couldn’t have ended any better.

Seniors Lane Dennis and Michael Courtney advanced to today’s finals in the 400-meter hurdles and the 400-meter dash, respectively.

“Today was like a can of mixed nuts for us,” Collier said. “Lane and Michael’s performances were like the good cashews. The rest of the meet today for us was like those Brazil nuts.”

Dennis all but assured himself a spot in the national championship meet after setting a school record and a personal best in the 400 hurdles preliminaries with a time of 50.25.

Jay Newman finished in 17th place in the 400 hurdles with a time of 52.76.

“Lane was just outstanding in his race,” Collier said. “Jay had his second-best time of the year. We were glad to see that.”

Courtney qualified for the finals and setting a personal record in the 400 dash. Courtney takes in the fifth-best time of 46.08 into today’s finals.

“I was glad to see that (Courtney) do well,” Collier said. “He came in with the sixth-best time, so it was good that he improved in that regard.”

Courtney’s teammate, Darryl Hayes, turned in a time of 46.52 to finish 12th.

In the women’s 400 hurdles preliminaries, Tiana Lee just missed the finals after posting a 1:00.23.

“Tiana had her second-best time and finished 10th. It was a good effort,” Collier said.

Despite a solid race in the men’s 110-meter hurdles preliminaries, John Thomas missed out on the finals. Thomas turned in a time of 14.07 and placed 12th.

“John had his best race and set a new personal record,” Collier said. “He still has eligibility remaining for the indoor season, but this was his last race for outdoor. I was pleased with the effort and I was glad to see him have a personal best in his last outdoor race.”

Sophomore hurdler Tywaniesha Spiller had a slightly slower time in Friday’s 100-meter hurdles preliminaries than in the Southland Outdoor championships to finish with a time of 13.92 for 13th place.

“Ty ran a good race,” Collier said. “She beat the SLC champ, so that was good to see. It wasn’t as fast as what she ran in conference, but she’s ran consistently at a high level. The fact that she’s only a sophomore is good for us.”

In the men’s long jump, Sam Houston State had three athletes participating, but Artis Edwards had the best performance after leaping 24 feet, 3 1/2 inches on his final attempt. Edwards finished 14th.

Curtis Patterson fouled on his first attempt, but finished with two solid jumps. Patterson’s best leap went for 23-2 3/4. Chris Gilchrist, who won the SLC title, fouled on his first two attempts before jumping 22-8 in his final try.

“We had some good jumps, but they ended up not counting,” Collier said. “C.J. and Chris didn’t have a good day.”

In the women’s 800-meter run, Devyn Mitchell finished 17th with a time of 2:14.94.

“Devyn was just in a very good field of athletes,” Collier added.

The Bearkats expect to have a much better day today.

Competing today for Sam Houston State in field event finals will be Chris Cralle in the hammer throw, Jon Tipton in the discus throw and Dess Meek in the high jump.

We’re hoping to have a much better second day in this meet,” Collier said. “With Chris, Jon, Michael and Lane, we four very good possible opportunities to get to nationals.”