UAPB men, Ala. St. women leaders

NEW ORLEANS — The Arkansas-Pine Bluff men and Alabama State women are in the lead after the first day of the Southwestern Athletic Conference outdoor track and field championships at Tad Gormley Stadium.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff posted 27 points after three events Friday, leading Grambling (21), the reigning champion, by six points. Southern is third with 15 points. Prairie View and Mississippi Valley State are tied for fourth, with 14 points each.

On the women’s side, Alabama State — last year’s champion — holds a strong lead with 46 points, followed by Texas Southern (23) Mississippi Valley State (14) and Grambling (10). The Southern women are sixth, with eight points.

Daniel Kibet of Mississippi Valley won the men’s 10,000-meter with a time of 34:02.08. Following in second was Grambling’s Trevor Gayten with a time of 34:21.90. Texas Southern’s Brandon Broden (34:22.40) finished third.

For Southern, the brightest spot from Friday’s first day was Hasoni Alfred, who took first place in the men’s javelin. Alfred, a backup quarterback on the SU football team, posted a mark of 182 feet, 7 inches, beating out Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Erick Thomas (176-6) and Jerren White (172-11).

Mississippi Valley State runner Joyce Chumo earned first place in the women’s 10,000 meters with a time of 39:21.32. Alabama State rounded out the the top three, with Courtney Gooch (40:46.92) in second and Raheema Hodges (42:21.45) in third.

Four of seven events in the heptathlon were completed Friday, including the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200-meter dash.

The remaining three events of the heptathlon begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Five of the decathlon events were also completed Friday. The men completed the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter dash. The decathlon will conclude early Saturday.

The second day of the three-day event begins at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Field event finals begin at noon, and running preliminaries are scheduled for 3 p.m.