Jefferson improves provisional mark at Michael Johnson Classic

La’Shara Jefferson improved her previous NCAA-provisional throw in the discus event by nearly six feet on Saturday, when the Texas A&M University – Commerce track teams participated in the Michael Johnson Classic in Waco. Jefferson’s throw of 149-1 (45.45m) ranks her among the top throwers in the Lone Star Conference.”I want to congratulate La’Shara Jefferson for her tremendous effort in the discus.  She had a very sore knee, but still toughed it out and threw further then she had (before),” head coach Rich Lawrence said. Running in the women’s 200-meter dash for the first time this season, Alycea Wallace finished the event in 26.52 seconds, while Sunny Henderson finished in 28.52 seconds. During the women’s shot put event, Taylor Smith improved her season-best, by throwing 39-3 (11.96m). Megan Davis also improved in the shot put, by throwing 32-8½ (9.97m).Dena Hawkins improved her season-best time in the 100-meter dash, but finishing in 13.65 seconds. On the men’s side, there were several student-athletes that improved their season-best marks at the Johnson Classic. Lynden Poole improved his season-best marks in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at the Classic. Poole finished the 100 in 11.40 seconds, and crossed the line in the 200 in 23.41 seconds. Also setting season-best times in the 200-meter dash, were Brad Dotson (22.22), Anthony Valle (23.00), Cairo Thornton (23.09), Michael Williams (23.90) and Anthony Tosie (24.53).Marquis Stimpson participated in both the long jump and triple jump events at the Classic. Stimpson jumped a distance of 19-9½ (6.03m) in the long jump, and 43-3 (13.18m) in the triple jump. Jeff Rayome also set season-best marks in the field events, in the shot put and hammer events. Rayome threw 50-1¼ (15.27m) in the shot put, and 116-8 (35.55m) in the hammer.Next up, the teams will travel to Denton on Thursday for the Mean Green Twilight meet, hosted by University of North Texas. The Mean Green Twilight will be the last meet for the teams before the Lone Star Conference Championship meet, which will be held May 2-4 at Abilene Christian University.