Jaguars make individual achievements, fail to secure SWAC title

There will be times when you will get so close, but not close enough to grab a championship.
Though both the Southern men’s and women’s track teams moved on to the finals after Saturday afternoon’s preliminary Southwestern Athletic Conference Indoor Championships at LSU’s Carl Maddox Field House, they were not able to move themselves towards a championship title. Instead Prairie View men’s and Grambling women’s track team walked away with the SWAC Indoor championship crown.
The Panthers of Prairie View totaled combined points of 144 and the Jaguar men trailed behind in second place with 112.
Despite the loss of first place overall, the Jaguar men did capture some individual event firsts.
Southern runners Albert Turner, Robert Delmore, Jamarkus Bailey and Kylom Wishom took first place for their performance in the 1600-meter relay with a time of 3:17 minutes.
Jaguar hurdler Carie Steed said before the SWAC Indoor Championships finals he was going to come home a winner.
“Watch me because I’m going to come home with the gold,” Steed said. “Just sit back and watch.”
Steed’s words came true because he clinched the first place title in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.08 seconds.
Sophomore pole-vaulter for Southern, Jovanni Jenkins, said despite the team obtaining second place, he still wasn’t happy.
“I wasn’t content with getting second place overall because I knew and still feel like we could have won,” Jenkins said. “But I am grateful because getting second is better than not placing at all.”
The Lady Jaguars concluded the SWAC Indoor Championships with 116.5 points, with Jackson State’s 130 and Grambling’s 135 points above them.
Junior Lady Jaguar sprinter Jessica Greene said she thought Southern did okay as a team but some individuals could have stepped up a little more.
“As a team we did pretty well,” Greene said. “But there could have been more people to step up towards the finals, but we had to work with what we had.”
Despite the lack of obtaining the SWAC Indoor championship crown, the Jaguars were happy with their individual performance and are looking forward to the SWAC Outdoor championship meet where they hope to come out on top.
Sophomore jumper/sprinter Joshua Combs said, “Many people gave their best performances of the entire year at the indoor track meet but we fell short finishing in the end but we will be back strong during outdoor season.”