Final Results

NEW ORLEANS, La.—The Alabama State University Lady Hornets held a 57-point lead heading into Sunday's final round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship and did nothing to deter from that lead as the Lady Hornets won their second consecutive SWAC Outdoor Championship in commanding fashion scoring 222 points, with the second place team only scoring 106 points.

“I am very happy for the girls and so happy for these seniors,” head coach Ritchie Beene said.  “Words can't explain how happy I am for what they accomplished.  We had the mindset of bending but not breaking, and that is exactly what the women did.  When they were tired, they pushed through.”

The men entered today's final day in sixth place and made a push during the day to wind up the championship in third place.  The Hornets were only seven points behind second-place Texas Southern.

“I am super proud of the men,” Beene said.  “Because of our low numbers, we asked a lot of this team knowing we were going to compete against some of the best performers not only in the SWAC but in the country as well.  I had a heart-to-heart meeting with the men last night after finishing yesterday in sixth place and I handed out some tough love on them.  They came out today and responded and I am so proud of what they accomplished.”

ASU's Shanice Mells was named the Most Outstanding Field Performer.  During her performance in the championship, Mells won a total of 26 points in her events.

“I never thought anything like this would happen to me,” Mells said.  “My coach (Prentiss Leaks) pushed me all season and he is the best throws coach in the nation.  He worked with me and stuck it out with me and it all worked out.”

“My hat goes out to Shanice,” Beene said.  “We had our top thrower go down with an injury and she stepped right in and did not miss a beat.  I could not be happier for her and I love her from the bottom of my heart.”

Mells was not the only player to take home some hardware, as Kesia Derilus was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer.  Derilus won 28 points during the championship and matches the MVP award she won following the SWAC indoor championship.

“This award means a lot to me and it means a lot to win both the indoor and outdoor award in the same season,” Derilus said.  “With all the events I was running, I knew if I had some top three finishes I would have a chance to win the award.”

Beene was named the 2011 SWAC Women's Coach of the Year.  It is the eighth coach of the year award for Beene.

The first events of the day were the women's discus throw, women's triple jump, men's high jump and men's pole vault.  These events proved to be beneficial for Alabama State.  Sylvester Byrd won the first completed event of the day, the pole vault.  Byrd's 10-point winning jump measured 10-11.75.

The women picked up eight points in the discus throw as three ASU throwers picked up points.  Shanice Mells finished fifth in the event with a throw of 125-04.  Ciara Taborn was sixth with a throw of 118-04, and Melissa Romelus was eighth with a throw of 116-08.

The Lady Hornets also picked up three points in the triple jump as Asha Tavernier's jump of 36-4.25 was good enough for sixth place.

The second round of morning events were the men's triple jump and the women's high jump.  The Lady Hornets picked up 20 points in the high jump as Tanisha Boulware finished second (5-02.50), Tyrisha Chambers finished fourth (5-02.50) and Jahneel Tyrell and Asha Tavernier (5-01.00) tied for fifth.

Byron Kearney was also successful in the triple jump with a fifth place finish with a jump of 45-07.25.  That jump brought in another four points for the Hornets.

The afternoon race relays began with the women's 4x100 meter relay, which the Lady Hornets won in a time of 45.45 picking up another 10 points.  The members of that relay team were Latrice Lee, Tokeyah Jones, Jamie Brooks and Tia Rolle.

The men were able to add three points to their total with their sixth-place finish in the 4x100 meter relay.  The relay quartet of Shawn Lockhart, Sylvester Byrd, Quantavious Lockhart and Vincent Butler crossed the finish line in 41.72.

Kesha Derilus brought in another eight points with her second place finish in the 1500 meter run as she crossed the finish line in 4:47.59.

In the men's 1500 meter run, Christopher Duncan finished second (4:06.26) and Charles Flewellen (4:10.43) finished seventh, adding 10 points to the Hornet total.

The women finished 5-6-7 in the 100 meter hurdles with Paris Thompson (14.65) leading the pack of Lady Hornets followed by Fola Richardson (14.72) and Tyrisha Chambers (15.42).  The ladies won a total of nine points in the event.

ASU's Ronald Jordan (14.27) finished second in the 100 hurdles and Jeffrey Adams (14.60) had a sixth-place finish.  That twosome brought in 11 points with their performances.  In another dash, Delorean Peek had a strong second-place finish in the 400 meters earning eight points with his 47.52 finishing time.

In the 100 meter dash, Tia Rolle (11.76) finished second and Tokeyah Jones was fifth (11.76).  The 800 meter run saw Lutrisha Altidor (2:15.57) finish fourth and Breana Kelly (2:21.610) finish seventh.  Also in the 800 meter run, Flewellen (1:52.93) was the first-place finisher with Duncan (2:01.90) finishing sixth and  Peek (2:04.39) finishing seventh.  The men's efforts brought in 15 points for the Hornets.

Quyanna Browne (1:02.01) had a strong second-place finish in the 400 meter hurdles and Paris Thompson (1:03.52) finished fifth.  Ronald Jordan also ran a strong 400 meter hurdles on the men's side finishing third crossing the finish line in 52.01.

The women's 200 meter dash saw Rolle (23.79) with a strong second-place finish and Latrice Lee (24.40) finish sixth, as the Lady Hornets continue to build on their championship lead with another 11 points.

As the championship began to wind down, the Lady Hornets continued to put pressure on the rest of the field during the 5000 meter run.  Derilus, winner of the 3000 meter steeplechase earlier in the championship, won the 5000 meter run in 19:08.72 and teammates Raheema Hodges (20:02.95) and Courtney Gooch (20:12.26) finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

The women's 4x400 meter relay team closed out the championship run with a seventh-place finish, adding the final two points on a 222-point championship.  That relay team was made up of Lutrisha Altidor, Jamie Brooks,  Browne and Lee.

In the final two events for the Hornets, Jephtah Kenei competed in the men's 5000 meter run and had a sixth-place finish adding three points, while the 4x400 men's relay team comprised of Vincent Butler,  Duncan, Flewellen and Jonathan Franklin finished third earning the team's final seven points after crossing the finish line in 3:13.08.

-HORNETS-