|
Tech Had Overall Best Finish of WAC Championships
May 21, 2008
RUSTON -- If you think it's just the women's track team that's flying high right now at Louisiana Tech University, you'd be wrong. Coming down to the finals minutes on the final day of the 2008 Western Athletic Conference Championships, there was absolutely no doubt about the women's team winning its fourth consecutive championship. It was on the men's side, however, that was decided in the final minutes with four of the five teams coming as close as possible to the gold. "I saw the scores, and I couldn't believe it," Tech head coach Gary Stanley said. "I ran back to our other coaches and said `We have a real chance to win this thing on the men's side.'" The hope was short-lived however, as Boise State would go on to claim the victory. But that did not stop the Bulldogs from finishing a half-point out of second place and 7.5 points out of first place. And combined with the women's first place finish, no school in the conference had quite the weekend the Bulldogs and Techsters had. "Unfortunately there's no trophy for combined finish," Stanley said. "I wish there was, obviously. I think it speaks a lot about the diligence of the staff to try to have two programs that are both up in the top three of the conference meet. It speaks well to balancing your efforts between the two programs and to how hard it is to do this. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. I'm very pleased with this; to be the leader in combined finishes." And for the second year in a row, it was all Louisiana Tech in the Outstanding Performer awards as freshman Chasidee Lewis took home the honor for the women while sophomore Al Fullwood garnered the men's plaque. "I think having both a male and a female athlete win the Outstanding Performer award in the WAC meet speaks volumes about the quality of athletes that we're bringing into this program," Stanley said. "And I think it speaks volumes about what (Associate Head Coach) Shawn Jackson has done with these two athletes. They both were recruited out of high school, but not highly. They were not on everybody's "blue-chip" list, and we signed them and great things have happened." It's not over, either, for the 2008 track squad. Next on the calendar: the NCAA Mideast Regionals in Fayetteville, Ark., for the last weekend in the month of May. Tech will send 23 total participants on the men's and women's side; by far the largest in the state besides LSU. Latechsports.com will have all the results of the NCAA Regionals as Louisiana Tech once again will look to make noise on the national scene. |
