LSC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2021 LSC Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas on February 20-21.
The meet begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and continues at 10:30 a.m. Sunday with nine men’s teams and 10 women’s squads competing.
Results and complete meet information may be found at https://lonestarconference.org/tournaments/?id=30.
The league has two men’s and one women’s team in the top 25 of the latest national rating index conducted by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The men’s rankings include No. 4 West Texas A&M and No. 9 Texas A&M-Commerce, while the women are represented by No. 7 WT.
Angelo State is the reigning men’s champion, while WT has won the last seven titles on the women’s side.
The NCAA Division II Championships are March 11-13 in Birmingham, Alabama.
LSC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
Lone Star Conference Indoor Track and Field athletes have recorded eight NCAA Division II Automatic qualifying marks (5 men, 3 women) and 45 provisional efforts (34 men, 11 women). See the LSC performance list here:
https://www.tfrrs.org/lists/3209.html.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN’S TRACK
Butare Rugenerwa, West Texas A&M, JR, Digital Communication, Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo
Rugenerwa made history on Friday evening at the Texas Tech Shootout as the junior broke the school and Lone Star Conference in the 800-meters as he finished second in a field full of Division I runners. The Amarillo native became the first Buff to run under 1:50 in the event as he closed strong over the final lap to run 1:48.48. That is the fifth-fastest time in DII history on a banked track and fastest since Drew Windle’s 1:48.41 in 2015.
MEN’S FIELD
No nominees.
WOMEN’S TRACK
Florance Uwajeneza, West Texas A&M, JR, Nursing, St. Paul, Minn. , Como Park Senior
Uwajeneza won the 3,000-meter on Saturday afternoon at the Texas Tech Shootout with the second-fastest time in program history. The junior crossed the finish line in 9:43.13, just two seconds shy of her own record, en route to picking up her second victory in the event as the Lady Buffs. The time converts to 9:36.75, which is the eighth-fastest time in the nation this year.
WOMEN’S FIELD
No nominees.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Men’s Track
J-21 Benjamin Azamati, West Texas A&M
J-27 Antonio Chavez, UT Tyler
F-3 Benjamin Azamati, West Texas A&M (2)
F-10 Distance Medley Relay (Arnaud Taki, Malick Diop, Butare Rugenerwa, Ezekiel Kipchirchir), West Texas A&M
F-17 Butare Rugenerwa, West Texas A&M
Men’s Field
J-21 Ushan Perera, Texas A&M-Commerce
J-27 Alex Rodriguez, UT Tyler
F-3 Trpimir Siroki, Angelo State
F-10 Ray Dixon, West Texas A&M
F-17 No nominees
Women’s Track
J-21 Florance Uwajeneza, West Texas A&M
J-27 Summer Grubbs, UT Tyler
F-3 Florance Uwajeneza, West Texas A&M (2)
F-10 Distance Medley Relay (Eleonora Curtabbi, Luisa Neumann, Nyia Sena, Florance Uwajeneza), West Texas A&M
F-17 Florance Uwajeneza, West Texas A&M (3)
Women’s Field
J-21 Flore Gracia, West Texas A&M
J-27 Audrey O'Connor, UT Tyler
F-3 Zada Swoopes, West Texas A&M
F-10 Taylor Nelloms, West Texas A&M
F-17 No nominees
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
4x400 Relay Team (Axel Paolucci, Jordan Hollis, Gage Marshall, Conner Stockerl), Texas A&M-Commerce, the Lion quartet claimed the fastest 4x400 relay time in the LSC this season at 3:17.97 at the Ichabod Invitational at Washburn. The relay squad earned the fastest time in the league by 1.30 seconds.
Jared Gilley, DBU, set a new school record in the 800 meters after clocking a time of 1:52.27 at the Gorilla Classic in Pittsburg, Kansas, on Saturday. Gilley finished fourth overall in the finals of the 800 and his time hit the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time for indoor nationals.
Dylan Burrows, Oklahoma Christian, posted NCAA Division II provisional qualifying times in two events during Pittsburg State’s Indoor Gorilla Classic in Pittsburg, Kan. His time of 1:51.73 in the 800 meters ranked as the 15th-best time this season in Division II in that event. He also ran the 800-meter leg on OC’s distance medley relay team that finished in 10:00.02, also the 15th-fastest time in Division II this season.
4x400 Relay Team (Dejanee Washington, Danielle Nicholson, Minna Svaerd, Atiana Alexander), Texas A&M-Commerce, the Lions' 4x400 relay team claimed the top spot in the Lone Star Conference this season at 3:54.50. This quartet has the top spot in the conference by 5.07 seconds entering the conference meet.
Analynne Klotz, DBU, won the 3,000 meter run at the Gorilla Classic in Pittsburg, Kansas, with a time of 10:29.25. The win was the first in her young career. Klotz also helped lift DBU to a sixth place finish in the distance medley relay.