Henson wins dec to help men build lead; women trail ASU
5/9/2009 5:30:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track & Field
LSC Track and Field Championship Page
KINGSVILLE ? Nineteen-year-old Andy Henson, competing in only the third decathlon of his young life, turned in a personal best in the javelin throw and struggled through the 1,500 meters to hold his slim lead here Friday on the second day of the 75th annual Lone Star Conference men's track and field championships.
The 43-point victory by the freshman from Albany gave Abilene Christian University its first 10 points as it seeks to extend its streak of 15 consecutive team titles.
Coach Don D. Hood's team won four other men's events Friday to enjoy a 47-point lead (84-37) over runner-up Tarleton State. Nick Jones upset defending champion Wade Goode of Tarleton State in the shot put to win in 55-6.25, and Ramon Sparks repeated in the long jump in 23-9. Daniel Maina easily won the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:26.90, and Cleophas Tanui captured the 10,000 in 32:23.42 to give the Wildcats their 11th straight win in that event.
In the women's division, favored Angelo State won five of Friday's eight final events to take a commanding lead over defending champion Abilene Christian entering Saturday's finals. The field events will begin at 1 p.m. followed by running finals at 5 p.m. Saturday at Javelina Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Henson vaulted 14-3.25, threw the javelin 167-6 and ran 6:00.38 in the 1,500 in the final three events here Friday to finish with 6,056 points in the decathlon. He held off Texas A&M-Kingsville's Ted Dugie, who scored 6,013 after running 5:33.11 in the 1,500. A 5:24.37 would have given Dugie the title.
In the only previous decathlon he completed, Henson scored 5,623 on April 7-8 in San Angelo, where he finished with 12-11, 138-3 and 6:04.77 in the final three events.
“I was worried,” Henson said while recovering after the 1,500 in the very warm, windy conditions at Javelina Stadium. “I knew he could run good. James (Hardin, his ACU teammate who finished fifth) helped me hang on. He (coach Hood) told me to stay within 30 seconds of him to do it. It was a long way, but I did it.”
Earlier, Henson started the day with 16.79 in the 110 hurdles and 126-9 in the discus. He had finished the first day Thursday with a lead of 18 points. His final score was the lowest winning score in the six-year history of the LSC decathlon, and he gave Abilene Christian only its second LSC decathlon win.
The ASU women outscored the Wildcats 26-4 in the heptathlon to start building their lead. ASU junior Chrystal Ruiz won with 4,249 points to lead a 1-2-3 sweep for the Rambelles for 24 of those 26 points. Wildcat freshman Amber Brooks was fourth with 3,850.
Abilene Christian's Jessica Withrow, who had won three straight league heptathlon titles, including a meet record 5,090 in 2007 as a sophomore, missed the 2009 outdoor season with injuries. She is also a two-time LSC high jump champion.
After another 1-2-3 sweep in the long jump, Angelo State held a 113-12 lead over Abilene Christian before the first running event, the 3,000 steeplechase, that was won by the Wildcats' Loice Cheboi in 12:06.85.
ASU won four of Friday's five women's field events. The only Wildcat field win came from Callie Young, junior from Brady who jumped 13-0.25 to win for the second straight year. She extended ACU's domination to a perfect 11-for-11 in the LSC women's pole vault.
Winrose Karunde gave ACU its third win with 38:52.29 in the 10,000, but Angelo State will take a lead of 80 points (138-58) into Saturday's women's finals of the 26th LSC women's competition. Tarleton State is third with 32 points.
In men's qualifying, the leaders included Abilene Christian's Desmond Jackson in the 100 (10.60), Jordan Johnson in the 200 (21.74), Raymond Radway in the 400 (48.54) and Andrew McDowell in the 110 hurdles (14.14).
In women's qualifying, the leaders included Wanda Hutson in the 100 (11.72) and 200 (24.31), Azraa Rounds in the 400 (57.48), and Destinee Nixon in the 100 hurdles (14.39) from the Wildcats.
MEN
Points (after 7 of 21 events) ? 1. Abilene Christian, 84; 2. Tarleton State, 37; 3. Angelo State, 32; 4. A&M-Kingsville, 30; 5. A&M-Commerce, 18; 6. West Texas, 15; 7. Eastern New Mexico, 1.
Hammer Throw ? 1. Chad Schaertl, Angelo, 172-3; 2. Abel Garcia, Kingsville, 165-1; 3. Emery Dudensing, ACU, 161-5; 6. Richard Scales, ACU, 142-8.
Shot Put ? 1. Nick Jones, ACU, 55-6.25; 2. Casey Keeter, Tarleton, 53-5.75; 3. Wade Goode, Angelo, 53-5.5.
High Jump ? 1. Gage Mayer, West Texas, 6-6.75; 2. Gerald Chenyi, ACU, 6-6.75; 3. Trent Hesseltine, Kingsville, 6-6.75.
Long Jump ? 1. Ramon Sparks, ACU, 23-9; 2. Gerald Chenyi, ACU, 23-0; 3. Ryan McWilliams, Angelo, 22-5.25; 6. Camille Vandendriessche, ACU, 21-9.5.
3,000 Steeplechase ? 1. Daniel Maina, ACU, 9:26.90; 2. Jared McNeil, Tarleton, 9:39.53; 3. Westyn Rosilies, Tarleton, 9:43.55.
10,000 ? 1. Cleophas Tanui, ACU, 32:23.42; 2. Amos Sang, ACU, 32:26.05; 3. Ryan Quesada, Tarleton, 32:36.36.
Decathlon
Final Points ? 1. Andy Henson, ACU, 6,056; 2. Ted Dugie, Kingsville, 6,013; 3. Dean Laing, Commerce, 5,629; 4. Harold Nair, Kingsville, 5,298; 5. James Hardin, ACU, 5,091; 6. Eldon Grimslid, West Texas, 5,047; 7. Mitchell Ryan, West Texas, 4,991.
110 Hurdles ? 1. Mitchell Ryan, West Texas, 15.50 (790); 5. Andy Henson, ACU, 16.79 (646; James Hardin, ACU, disqualified (0).
Discus Throw ? 1. Dean Laing, Commerce, 148-3 (771) (meet record); 2. James Hardin, ACU, 127-1 (639); 3. Andy Henson, ACU, 126-9 (637).
Pole Vault ? 1. James Hardin, ACU, 15-1 (790); 2. (tie) Andy Henson, ACU, 14-3.25 (716).
Javelin Throw ? 1. Ted Dugie, Kingsville, 169-8 (614); 2. Andy Henson, ACU, 167-6 (604); 4. James Hardin, ACU, 153-2 (540).
1500 ? 1. Dean Laing, Commerce, 5:08.76 (510); 5. James Hardin, ACU, 6:00.26 (263); 6. Andy Henson, ACU, 6:00.38 (263).
WOMEN
Points (after 8 of 21 events) ? 1. Angelo State, 138; 2. Abilene Christian, 58; 3. Tarleton State, 32; 4. A&M-Commerce, 12; 5. (tie) Eastern New Mexico and A&M-Kingsville, 3.
Hammer Throw ? 1. Culley Dawson, Angelo, 173-8 (meet record); 2. Adree Lakey, Angelo, 168-10; 3. Paige Newby, ACU, 153-0; 10. Angie Winegart, ACU, 99-5.
High Jump ? 1. Aisha Adams, Angelo, 5-5.75; 2. Cassidi Porter, Tarleton, 5-5.75; 3. Chrystal Ruiz, Angelo, 5-3.75; 7. Amber Brooks, ACU, 4-9.75.
Shot Put ? 1. Adree Lakey, Angelo, 51-10.5 (meet record); 2. Culley Dawson, Angelo, 47-5; 3. LaShara Jefferson, Commerce, 40-9.75.
Long Jump ? 1. Aisha Adams, Angelo, 20-4.5; 2. Andria Nussey, Angelo, 19-0.75; 3. Kris Crockett, Angelo, 18-4.25; 5. Amanda Clemons, ACU, 18-1.5; 10. Destinee Nixon, ACU, 16-0.5.
Pole Vault ? 1. Callie Young, ACU, 13-0.25; 2. Danielle Dorsey, Angelo, 12-6.25; 3. Elizabeth Buyse, ACU, 11-6.5.
3,000 Steeplechase ? 1. Loice Cheboi, ACU, 12:06.85; 2. Krista Morris, Tarleton, 12:22.09; 3. Kate Donovan, Commerce, 13:00.13; 4. Allison Fowler, ACU, 13:13.03.
10,000 ? 1. Winrose Karunde, ACU, 38:52.29; 2. Paige Massingill, Angelo, 39:08.47; 3. Loice Cheboi, ACU, 42:58.65; 7. Hayley Garner, ACU, 44:15.57.
Heptathlon
Final Points ? 1. Chrystal Ruiz, Angelo, 4,249; 2. Kyndel Howell, Angelo, 4,155; 3. Andria Nussey, Angelo, 4,104; 4. Amber Brooks, ACU, 3,850; 5. Shelly Diggs, Angelo, 3,131.
Long Jump -- 1. Andria Nussey, Angelo, 19-1.25 (795 points); 4. Amber Brooks, ACU, 15-7 (492).
Javelin Throw ? 1. Kyndel Howell, Angelo, 116-5 (581); 3. Amber Brooks, ACU, 91-1 (434).
800 ? 1. Shelly Diggs, Angelo, 2:39.67 (577); 2. Amber Brooks, ACU, 2:49.47 (469).
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