Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap

HOUSTON – The Southeastern Louisiana University track & field team earned six medals, including golds from Olu Ogunyemi and Esther Nwanze, on the final day of the 2025 Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday at the Wendel D. Ley Track & Holloway Field on the campus of Rice University.
 
With all competitions completed, the Lions finished in fifth place with 78 points while the Lady Lions ended the meet in eighth with 39 points.
 
One of the day's first events gave the Southeastern men a quick infusion of points to start the day. In the high jump, both Donald Butler and Alden Dupree cleared 2.04 meters (6'8.25") for their best mark of the day. Based off number of attempts needed, Butler was awarded fifth place for four points and Dupree earned seventh for two points, giving SLU six early points.
 
Southeastern's first medal of the day was the first gold as the track Finals got underway. In the 110-meter hurdles, Olu Ogunyemi added an extra gear to his performance from Friday's preliminary heat, crossing the line in 14.04 seconds to set a new personal best while winning the competition and adding 10 points to the team total.
 
Next on the track was the 400-meter dash, which featured Lions in the Finals of both the women's and men's competitions. For the Lady Lions, Onyah Favour ran a time which would've set a new SLC Championships meet record as she crossed the line in 52.54 seconds. On this day, that time was good to earn her a silver medal as she scored eight points for the squad.
 
The men's 400-meter dash followed, and it was Victory Achakpoekri running his way to a podium spot as he crossed the line in 47.05 seconds. That earned him a bronze medal and the team six more points.
 
The next race was the 100-meter dash, which was another chance for points for the Lady Lions. Marvellous Asemora clocked in at 11.88 seconds which slotted her in fifth place and got the SLU women four points.
 
The came the golden moment for the Lady Lions. Esther Nwanze, the only SLC women's hurdler to break a minute all season long, showed that she was the class of the field as she quickly made up the stagger and led almost the whole way, cruising to the gold medal and 10 points for her team by more than 3.5 seconds with a time of 58.35 seconds.
 
The men's 400-meter hurdles immediately followed and, with a gold already in his hand from the 110-meter hurdles, Ogunyemi started quick but settled for a seventh place finish with a time of 54.93 seconds, earning the Southeastern men two points.
 
Back on the field, Lance Hamilton found his footing in the triple jump. His first jump went 14.35 meters (47'1"), immediately setting him up to go to the Final and get three extra jumps, but he made sure he would be included in that number by soaring 15.01 meters (49'3") with his third jump. In the Final, his fourth jump of the day proved to be his best as he flew 15.09 meters (49'6.25") to earn a fourth place finish and five points for the Lions.
 
On the track again, and again it was Asemota picking up more points for the Lady Lions, this time in the 200-meter dash. She crossed the line in 24.01 seconds to earn herself a fourth place finish and the Lady Lions five more points.
 
The final events of the track were the 4x400-meter relays, and both Southeastern teams added points to their scores. The Lady Lion team of Nwanze, Favour, Miriam Kauer, and Danina Sorapuru cruised to a time of 3:42.58 seconds, taking second place. That result made Nwanze and Favour double-medalists on the day while adding the final eight points to the SLU women's score total.
 
The men's 4x400 relay team of Achakporkri, Daniel Atinaya, Javon-Taye Williams, and Josh Anding stopped the clock in 3:10.00, giving the Lions the fourth-best time and five points.
 
But the Southeastern men were not done with medals and points just yet as the discus throw competition was the final competition to reach its conclusion. Micah Miller's first throw went 47.33 meters (155'3"), which held up to earn him a spot in the final and three extra throws. It was his final throw which got him onto the medal stand as he uncorked a heave of 48.39 meters (158'9") which vaulted him from a possible seventh place finish all the way up to a bronze medal winner and earning the Lions six points. The man Miller replaced on the medal stand with that throw ended up being his own teammate, Josh-Ty Brown. Brown's best throw of the day was his third which went 48.25 meters (158'3") and earned him a fourth place finish and five points as SLU took a total of 11 points from the meet's final competition, key points which helped move the team up another spot in the overall standings to close out the day.
 
With all meets coming to an end, the athletes now wait to see if their marks are good enough to earn invites to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championship East Region First Round which runs May 28-31 in Jacksonville, Fla. at the Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida.
 
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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