Naomi Kiprop is awarded the first place trophy at the SWAC Championship. GSU ATHLETICS/Courtesy photo
The Grambling State University men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams recently concluded the indoor season at the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships (SWAC) in Birmingham, Ala.
In the distance medley relay, the team of Aaron Koech, Fredric Green, Devyn Deckard and Hassan Chepkwony placed sixth overall, with a time of 10:56.51. Hassan Chepkwony placed fourth in the 5,000 meters, with a time of 15:49.87 and Noah Rugut came in ninth at 16:24.00. Wesley Green took 10th place in the shot put, with a toss of 12.47 meters. In the long jump, Rudolph Valentine placed 10th with a leap of 6.60 meters. Valentine also claimed eighth in the triple jump at 13.67m.
The GSU men finished the meet with nine points and an eighth-place finish. Alabama State won the championship with 165 points. Jackson State (135), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (97), Texas Southern (87), Prairie View A&M (78), Mississippi Valley State (37) and Southern (33) finished second through seventh. Alcorn State finished ninth with six points.
On the women’s side, Naomi Kiprop won the 5,000 meters run, with a time of 19:15.09, which was six seconds faster than Jackson State’s Mercy Chebet. Priscilla Kibet and Winny Chirchair finished seventh and eighth with times of 20:27.06 and 20:27.69. Kiprop also placed second in the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:42.15, six seconds short of first-place winner Arion Span of Alabama State. Kibet finished sixth in the 3,000 meters, at 11:12.02, with Chirchair finishing eighth at 11:16.25. The distance relay team of Kibet, Marissa Stove, Angelica Brown and Kiprop placed eighth, with a time of 13:25.28. Kiprop took fourth in the 1-mile run, with a time of 5:25.35, with Kibet finishing ninth at 5:45.49 and Chirchair just missed the top 10, with a time of 5:53.93.
In the 60-meter hurdles, Rayna White placed sixth at 8.98 seconds. Victoria Walter came fifth in the long jump, with a leap of 5.41m. Breanna Wayne came in ninth place with a jump of 1.47 meters, in the high jump. For the triple jump, Wayne claimed eighth, with a leap of 11.44 meters. In the weight throw, Aneisha Bell placed 10th at 14.56 meters. Bell finished third in the shot put, with a toss of 13.40 meters.
The GSU women completed the championships with 45 points and finished sixth. Alabama State won the championship with 188.5 points.
Prairie View A&M (152) claimed second, followed by Southern (70.5), Texas Southern (66) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (53). Alabama A&M (29), Alcorn State (28), Jackson State (20) and Mississippi Valley State (10) rounded out the 10-team field.
GSU opens its outdoor season on March 2 at the Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss.