SOUTH PLAINS WOMEN USE DEPTH TO CLAIM SECOND-STRAIGHT NATIONAL CROWN

By Steve Carpenter, Hutchinson Community College Sports Information Director

HUTCHINSON, Kan. - South Plains College rode its core group of Jura Levy, Shakeeri Cole, Janelle Redhead, Colleen Felix and Kelly Closse, not to mention its overall team depth, to a second-straight NJCAA outdoor track national championship on Saturday.

Complete results can be viewed here.

The Lady Texans won 10 event national championships and had five multi-event winners to roll past the field at the 2010 NJCAA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Gowans Stadium.

South Plains amassed 192 points to runner-up Central Arizona' College's 117 points. Iowa Central was third with 78 and New Mexico Junior College was fourth with 44.

The Lady Texans dominated the sprints, won all three relays and thanks to Felix and Closse, won four field national championships.

Levy led the parade of multi-event gold medalists and was the only athlete in the 2010 Championships to win four event national titles. Levy won the 100-meters (11.15 seconds), leading a South Plains 1-3-4 finish. She won the 200-meter dash (22.95 seconds), spearheading a South Plains sweep of the top three spots and 27 team points. Levy ran the anchor leg of the 4x100-meter relay and ran the second leg of the 4x400-meter relay.

Cole defended her 800-meter championship, winning with a time of 2:08.50. Cole also ran legs of the 4x400 and 4x800 relays. Janelle Redhead ran legs of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

Felix won a second-straight javelin championship going 153 feet, 4 inches. She added a triple jump championship with a distance of 42-10 ½.

Closse had a strong 2010 Championship, winning the shot put on Saturday and claiming the discus championship with a mark of 152 feet, 2 inches.

South Plains' other individual championship came from Chante'sean White in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles (1:00.04). The Texans won the 4x100 in 44.80 seconds, the 4x400 relay in 3:38.61 and the 4x800 relay in 9:01.61.

South Plains' head coach Chris Beane was named the Coach of the Meet for the second-straight year.

Central Arizona's Violah Legat was named the 2010 Women's Track Athlete of the Meet. Legat was a multi-event champion winning the 1,500 meters (4:40.68 and the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:10.10) on Friday. She also placed eighth in the 800 meters.

Two-time heptathlon champion A.G. Bradford of Iowa Central was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Meet for the second-straight year. In addition to the heptathlon championship, Bradford won the women's high jump on Saturday with a height of 5-8 ¾.