FRISCO, Texas – Dontrell Lyons quickly showed he was going to be an impact newcomer for the Southeastern Louisiana track team in 2016 after winning the 400 meters in the season-opening LSU Purple Tiger Invitational in January.
    Lyons would continue to create headlines during the season, breaking the school record in the 400, winning the Southland Conference Championship in the event and being a member of the record-breaking 4x400 relay.
    Those accomplishments helped the junior transfer from Colby County Community College earn Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Newcomer of the Year honors in a vote of the league's head coaches on Monday.

    "I certainly thought he was deserving of that award," Southeastern head coach Sean Brady said. "It's a great honor for him and certainly for our team to have someone voted Newcomer of the Year for our conference. At the time he ran his PR, it put him in the second-fastest in the 400 in the country and I think he is still one of the fastest 400 runners in the country."
    
    Lyons was also one of eight members of the Lions' men squad to be named to the All-Southland Conference team on Monday. The Lions, who remained No. 13 in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's National Computer Rankings, had three first-team individual recipients - Lyons, sophomore pole vaulter Devin King and senior thrower Alexander Young (in both the weight throw and shot put) – as well as the 4x400 relay of Lyons, juniors Maverick Bowleg and Andre Colebrook and senior Ashley Riley.
    
    Second-team selections were Colebrook in the 800 and senior thrower Jonathan Kinchen while senior jumper Clarence Robinson was a third-team honoree for the Lions, who came in second in the team standings at the conference meet.

    The Lady Lions, who took sixth, had three athletes named All-Conference in four events. Senior thrower made second team for the weight throw and third team for the shot put. Senior pole vaulter Sharron-Ann Ourso was a second-team recipient while senior Sharrona Williams was third team for the 60-meter dash.

    The top-three finishers in each event earned All-Southland honors. The winner earned first team, the second place finisher was named second team and third-place finishers made the third team.

    Lyons, a native of Karnes City, Texas, won the 400 meters at the conference meet in 46.80 seconds. He also ran the opening leg of the champion 4x400 relay which set the meet and school record of 3:08.97. He had earned Southland Track Athlete of the Week honors after setting the school record in winning the 400 in 46.32 at the New Mexico Cherry & Silver. That time is No. 1 in the Southland and sixth best in the country and bettered the previous Southeastern mark of 48.40 set by Riley at the 2015 UAB Vulcan Invitational.

    King, a Kentwood, Louisiana native, broke his own record in the pole vault by two inches in winning the Southland championship in 17-11.25. The vault was fifth-best in the country and No. 1 in the Southland to date.

    Young threw 71-11.50 inches on his second to last attempt to break his own meet record of 69-11.75 in repeating as the weight throw champion at the Southland Championships. The Nashville, Tenn. native became the first Lion male athlete since shot-putter Adonson Shallow (2009-10) to repeat as an indoor conference champion in an event. The 2015 Southland and Louisiana Newcomer of the Year also captured the shot put at 56-5.25.

    The 4x400 relay dashed to a time of 3:08.97 seconds, breaking the old meet mark of 3:10.86 set by Stephen F. Austin in 2015.

    Colebrook was a part of three school records at the Southland Championships. He broke own school record in the 800 in finishing second in 1:52.09. The Eleuthera, Bahamas native also ran the third leg for the 4x400 relay and helped the distance medley relay take fifth in a school record 10:11.16.

    Kinchen, a Ponchatoula, Louisiana native, received All-Conference honors for the fifth time in his career. He was the runner-up in the weight throw at the Southland Championships with a throw of 66-2.25 while also coming in 13^th in the shot put (48-10).

    Robinson tied a career best with a jump of 6-9.75 in taking third at the Southland Championships. The Morgan City, Louisiana native earned All-Conference recognition for the fourth time.

    On the women's side, Frazier was second in the weight throw at 62-08.75 and third in the shot put with a throw of 47-5. The LaPlace, Louisiana native has now earned 11 All-Conference honors in her career.
    
    Ourso came in second in the pole vault in 12-9.5. The Mandeville, Louisiana native had also earned third-team All-Conference recognition during the 2014 outdoor season.
    
    Williams came in third in the 60-meter dash in 7.60 seconds after setting the school record of 7.56 in the preliminaries. The West Moreland, Jamaica native set another school record in finishing fifth in the 200 in 24.36.

    Lamar freshman runner Iliass Aouani was selected as the men's athlete of the year, outstanding runner and freshman of the year. Sam Houston's Tyler Adams earned outstanding field performer.

    Sam Houston's Danielle Demas earned women's athlete of the year and outstanding runner honors while teammate Ashley Jenkins claimed outstanding field performer honors. Silvia LaTella of Lamar earned freshman of the year accolades. 

    Earning men's and women's coach of the year honors was Dave Self of Sam Houston State.
 
Men's Individual Award Winners
Male Athlete of the Year: Iliass Aouani, Lamar
Male Outstanding Field Events: Tyler Adams, Sam Houston State
Male Outstanding Running Events: Iliass Aouani, Lamar
Male Newcomer of the Year: Dontrell Lyons, Southeastern Louisiana
Male Freshman of the Year: Iliass Aouani, Lamar
Men's Coach of the Year: Dave Self, Sam Houston State
 
Men's Indoor Track and Field All-Conference Teams

Event	1st	2nd	3rd
60-Meter Dash	Amir James, NSU	Corneil Lionel, ACU	Justin Jenkins, SHSU
60-Meter Hurdles	Michael Nicholls, UNO	Kerry Gleason, SFA	Jordan Washington, SFA
200-Meter Dash	Amir James, NSU	Rosen Daniel, ACU	Chris Jefferson, SHSU
400-Meter Dash	Dontrell Lyons, SLU	My'Lik Kerley, SFA	Rosen Daniel, ACU
800-Meter Run	Jeffrey Moore, SHSU	Andre Colebrook, SLU	Nathan Gillis, LU
Mile Run	Jeffrey Moore, SHSU	Tobias Riker, LU	Oliver James, MCN
*4x400-Meter Relay	Southeastern La.	Stephen F. Austin	Sam Houston State
3,000-Meter Run	Iliass Aouani, LU	Alex Dunbar, LU	Phillip Baar, TAMUCC
5,000-Meter Run	Iliass Aouani, LU	Alex Dunbar, LU	Charles Mathenge, SFA
*DMR	Lamar	Stephen F. Austin	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
High Jump	Eric Moore, UCA	Tyler Adams, SHSU	Clarence Robinson, SLU
Pole Vault	Devin King, SLU	Garrett Larson, SHSU	Ashton Summers, SHSU
Long Jump	Emmanuel Williams, NSU	Aaron Williams, NSU	Jacorious Jeter, NSU
Triple Jump	Aaron Williams, NSU	Emmanuel Williams, NSU	John Lemke, MCN
Shot Put	Alexander Young, SLU	Hiram Morales, MCN	Cedric Paul, NSU
Weight Throw	Alexander Young, SLU	Jonathon Kinchen, SLU	Jelani Rainey, ACU
Heptathlon	Tyler Adams, SHSU	Luke Woods, ACU	Garrison Fick, HBU

 
*4x400-Meter Relay:   
1. Southeastern La. – (Dontrell Lyons, Maverick Bowleg, Andre Colebrook, Ashley Riley)
2. Stephen F. Austin – (Jonathon Joe, Kerry Gleason, D'Lance Sharp, My'Lik Kerley)
3. Sam Houston State – (Kevin Beasley, Jeffrey Moore, Robert Monticone, Eric Pouncy)
 
*Distance Medley Relay:     
1. Lamar – (Tobias Riker, Damerian Toliver, Stuart Ferguson, Iliass Aouani)
2. Stephen F. Austin – (Charles Mathenge, Tedrick Hawkins, Samuel Wallace, Quinlin McGregor)
3. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – (Vinnie Van Puyvelde, Angelo Garland, William Maraggia, Philipp Baar)
 
Women's Individual Award Winners
Female Athlete of the Year: Danielle Demas, Sam Houston State
Female Outstanding Field Events: Ashley Jenkins, Sam Houston State
Female Outstanding Running Events: Danielle Demas, Sam Houston State
Female Freshman of the Year: Silvia LaTella, Lamar
Women's Coach of the Year: Dave Self, Sam Houston State
                                               
Women's Indoor Track and Field All-Conference Teams

Event	1st	2nd	3rd
60-Meter Dash	Danielle Demas, SHSU	Aliyah Davis, SFA	Sharrona Williams, SLU
60-Meter Hurdles	Danielle Demas, SHSU	Alexia Fortenberry, UNO	Braneshia Payton, NSU
200-Meter Dash	Aliyah Davis, SFA	Danielle Demas, SHSU	Paula Smith, SHSU
400-Meter Dash	Kimone Green, ACU	Jordan Grady, SHSU	Jessica James, ACU
800-Meter Run	Camry Grigsby, SHSU	Briana McCall, SHSU	Alexandra Sokolova, LU
Mile Run	Verity Ockenden, LU	Alexandria Hackett, ACU	Diana Garcia-Munoz, ACU
*4x400-Meter Relay	Sam Houston State	Abilene Christian	Stephen F. Austin
3,000-Meter Run	Verity Ockenden, LU	Alexandria Hackett, ACU	Aubrey Till, ACU
5,000-Meter Run	Alexandria Hackett, ACU	Rainy Castaneda, UIW	Ana Moreno, SHSU
*DMR	Lamar	Sam Houston State	Abilene Christian
High Jump	Caitlin Jones, SFA	Sashane Hanson, TAMUCC	Jasmine Waring, UIW
Pole Vault	Kenzie Walker, ACU	Sharron-Ann Ourso, SLU	Ashley Thompson, SHSU
Long Jump	Sarea Alexander, UIW	Paula Smith, SHSU	Deja Phillips, LU
Triple Jump	Por'sha Thomas, NSU	Silvia LaTella, LU	Breann Denson, NSU
Shot Put	Kristine Hanks, SHSU	Jessica Spelling, SFA	Jermisha Frazier, SLU
Weight Throw	Ashley Jenkins, SHSU	Jermisha Frazier, SLU	Rechelle Bessard, NSU
Pentathlon	Avery Zamzow, SHSU	Madeline Kaufmann, SFA	Courtney Lord, SHSU

*4x400-Meter Relay:
1. Sam Houston State – (Briana McCall, Camry Grigsby, Ruth Amaku, Jordan Grady)
2. Abilene Christian – (Kimone Green, Petrene Plummer, Chartia Hurt, Jessica James)
3. Stephen F. Austin – (Tiffany Williams, Valerie Osamar, Aliyah Davis, Dawnshae Evans)
 
*Distance Medley Relay:     
1. Lamar – (Alexandra Sokolova, Sarah Shim, Georgia Tuckfield, Verity Ockenden)
2. Sam Houston State – (Camry Grigsby, Jasmine Lewis, Briana McCall, Nicole Aponte)
3. Abilene Christian – (Diana Garcia-Munoz, Chartia Hurt, Petrene Plummer, Marina Guerrero Puigdevall)