Last weekend, the Prairie View A&M University men and women track teams traveled to Baton Rouge to battle for the 2007 SWAC Indoor Track & Field Championship.
The standouts for the women were Nikki Cameron who took the gold medal in the 200 meter dash and 400 meter dash, Ashley Magee who finished 5th out of a field of 22 in the long jump, and Alexis Tanner who finished 6th out of a field 17 in the triple jump.
The men of the Prairie View track team went into Baton Rouge ready to dominate the competition.
First up was Chris Taylor who finished 4th in the 60 meter dash out of a field of 36, and next was Jason Okoro who finished 3rd in the 400 meter dash.
What the Panthers lacked in one event, they made up for in the next event. Alonzo Thomas finished 4th and Ashton Brown finished 7th in the one-mile run, while Matthew Jones finished 2nd in the 800 meter run.
Next were Alonzo Thomas and Ashton Brown who finished 3rd and 5th in the 3000 meter run. The duo also ran the 5000 meter run and finished 3rd and 5th. Running in the 60 meter hurdles were Andre Hilton, Darian Epting, and Jason Mitchell, who finished 4th, 6th, and 8th respectively.
Throughout the meet the Panthers were gradually pushing their way to the top, by either placing in each event, or placing multiple times in each event.
The next events were key and beneficial to the Panthers winning the SWAC Championship. In the distance medley, Matthew Jones, Jason Okoro, Roland Dejean, and Alonzo Thomas placed 2nd, while in the high jump, Justin Williams placed 4th. The last six events sealed the deal for the Panthers as Justin Brewer placed 1st in the Pole Vault, Kenneth Wilson placed 1st in the long jump, and Bradley Durham placing 1st in the shot put and weight throw.
The Panthers racked up a total of 144 points, beating their nearest competitor by 32 points and winning the 2007 Men’s SWAC Indoor Track & Field Championship.
Thomas said the key factors that brought the SWAC Championship back to Prairie View were “the field event people coming together, setting a goal, and achieving that goal.