BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Louisiana University track and field team took home 10 medals, five being golds, from the Samford Open Saturday at the Birmingham Crossplex.
 
The early impressions came from the Lady Lions of the track. Immaculate Danial, who was competing in her first collegiate meet, had to run an opening round race in the 60-meter dash in an attempt to make the main field, and she came out in a big way as her 7.74 time was the fastest of the opening round to qualify her into the main competition field. She made the qualification to the main field pay off by running a 7.64 in the preliminaries to qualify for the final. In the 60-meter dash final, Danial posted her best time of the day, finishing in 7.61 seconds for a silver medal. Danial wasn't done either, pacing two other Lady Lions in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.04.
 
That momentum continued into the women's 400-meter dash as the Lady Lions placed four sprinters into the top-10 in that competition, led by Indya Jackson's gold medal-winning run of 55.38 seconds. Esther Nwanze finished fourth in 56.13 while Onyah Favour crossed in fifth in 57.55 and Miriam Kauer stopped the clock in 57.77 in seventh place.
 
The SLU women's day on the track came to an end in a big way, with Nwanze,Favour, Kauer, and Jackson combining to win gold in the 4x400-meter relay by crossing the line in 3:50.52.
 
On the field, the Lady Lions achieved just as much success. Jordyn Taylor's first foray into the long jump earned her a bronze medal as her 5.31-meter (17'5.25") leap earned her a third-place finish. Natalie Ioannou took home a bronze medal from the triple jump with her medal-winning jump going 11.40 meters (37'5"). Lara Zupanc brought home a gold in the pole vault, clearing 3.56 meters (11'8").
 
SLU's men's track team picked up a pair of medals in the 800-meter run as Tim Anstett took home the gold in a time of 1:55.96 with Javon-Taye Williams right on his heels for silver with a time of 1:56.62. Olu Ogunyemi won his heat in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.09 seconds to qualify for the final, but ended up with a fifth-place finish in a time of 8.39.
 
The Lions track team finished strong as Williams, Josiah Whitaker, Dedrick Gant, and Josh Anding combined to take home the bronze medal in the 4x400-meter relay, crossing the finish line in 3:24.00.
 
Slevko Stevic placed himself into the top-10 in the country in the high jump as he successfully crested 2.19 meters (7'2.25"), which earned him a bronze medal on the day.
 
In the field for the Lions as well, Tristan Goodly and Stan Hamilton both had solid showings in the triple jump with Goodly's leap of 14.22 meters (46'8") earning him a silver medal while Hamilton's distance of 13.98 meters (45'10.5") saw him just miss the podium in fourth. Terrell Webb continued to do what he does in the weight throw as his best toss of the day went 19.86 meters (65'2"), long enough for him to bring the gold medal back to Hammond, America. Gerrit Visser also had a solid showing in the weight toss, finishing in fourth with a toss of 16.33 meters (53'7").
 
The Lions will now enjoy a week off before heading to Nashville for the Music City Challenge, hosted by Vanderbilt. The two-day event starts on Fri., Jan. 19^th with the opening competitions started at 9 a.m. at the Vanderbilt Multipurpose Facility.
 
PODIUM CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the track and field program are encouraged to join the Podium Club. Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners. All membership fees and donations to Podium Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern track and field program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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