Track & Field Posts Solid Effort At Jaguar Invitational

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Eleven Privateers posted season-best performances as the University of New Orleans track and field teams posted a solid effort in its final dress rehearsal prior to the upcoming Southland Conference Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Jaguar Invitational.

With a handful of UNO student-athletes out due to illness, the squad still managed a quartet of Top 10 individual performances as junior Alexia Fortenberry was second in the women's 60-meter hurdles (8.64), freshman Alba Fernandez was fifth in the women's 200 meter (24.57), junior Fadeke Adeola was fifth in the women's high jump (1.64m) and junior Jared Robertson was ninth in the men's mile (4:27.84).

"We performed really, really well this weekend," UNO head coach Benjamin Dalton said. "The distance crew really led us with some huge PRs. The sprint crew improved as well so that's very promising and there's a lot more to come. As long as everyone keeps improving and there's room for technical improvement – whether that's race tactics, race distribution and mechanical factors – that's always a good thing."

Robertson's mark in the mile was over nine seconds faster than his previous best this season while junior Edmund Pine posted season-best marks in both the mile (4:30.09) and 800 meters (2:01.06). Also posting season-best marks in the mile for the men's team were junior Clayton O'Callaghan (4:29.42) and freshman Mark Golay (4:59.75) while junior Darren Darensburg did so in the 200 (23.54).

Junior Chelise Brown posted a pair of season-best showings for the women's team with a 7.75 in the 60 meters and a 25.65 in the 200, as did senior Rebecca Callaway in the mile (6:19.20) – trimming over 10 seconds from her previous high-water mark – and the 800 meters (2:45.58). Also posting season-best marks for the women were Fernandez and freshman Ja'Nai Cameron (26.12) in the 200 meters (26.12), and senior Callie Willcox in the mile (5:40.12). Fortenberry's second-place showing in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, meanwhile, came after she posted a mark of 8.54 in the preliminaries.

UNO returns to action on Monday, Feb. 15, when the Privateers open play in the SLC Championship in the Birmingham Sportsplex. The conference's indoor meet will conclude on Feb. 16 and select student-athletes will compete LSU Twilight on Feb. 19 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 2016 NCAA Indoor Championship is slated for March 11-12.