BATON ROUGE, La. – It was just a matter of time. That time came this past weekend for Sanjae Lawrence.
The freshman put his name atop the Barton men’s track and field record books in the shot put. The Jamaican eclipsed the mark held by Max Alonso to pace Barton at the Louisiana State University Alumni Gold Meet at Bernie Moore Stadium.
Lawrence topped the 60-foot mark with a throw of 60-0.5. That was good enough to win the event by more than two feet. It was also good enough to break the mark set by Alonso in 2010 of 59-2.75.
Teammate Stevon Crooks was fifth at 55-11.25. Lawrence already had the longest NJCAA throw in the nation this year.
The 4x100m relay team turned in the best time of the spring as well, posting a 39.63. Terence Ware, McKinley West, Chedlin Sageese and Christian Lyon posted the second best NJCAA time of the year, taking fourth. Hinds Community College blistered the track with a 38.91 followed by Texas, Mississippi State then Barton.
The 4x400m relay team took fourth as well behind Texas, LSU, and Hinds. Barton’s Michale Reyes, Kamarni Mighty, McKinley West and DeAndre Jobe ran a 3:09.43.
Three Cougars 400m hurdlers went 1-2-3 in the B section of the event. Reyes, Marquise Hill, and Brandon Felix bested the field with Reyes winning in 52.74, Hill second in 52.74 and Felix third in 52.84.
Sageese finished second in the 100m with a time of 10.28, just behind Texas’ Senoj-Jay Givans at 10.23. West was fifth in the 200m in 20.65.
Denroc Dixon placed fifth in the long jump invitational portion at 24-7.75 while Bradley Fleurinord was third in the regular session of the long jump at 24.0.25. Willie Rogers was sixth in the high jump with a leap of 6-9.
The Cougars will take a partial squad to Hays this weekend for the Fort Hays State Open. The Region VI Championships are set for May 4-6 in Arkansas City.