Watson Scores Fourth-Place Javelin Finish as League Championships Begin

Photo by: Kelly Ross

Watson Scores Fourth-Place Javelin Finish as League Championships Begin

May 10, 2019 | Track & Field

Men's Results | Women's Results

WICHITA, Kan. – Tom Watson had a tremendous afternoon in the javelin, taking fourth place in the event to highlight Tulane's first day at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships at Cessna Stadium on Friday.

Watson, who entered the day ranked fifth in the conference, launched his third throw of the day 58.82 meters (192-11) to move from sixth place to second entering the finals.

On his sixth and final attempt, Watson bettered that mark by a centimeter to finish at 58.83 meters (193-0), but two other throwers had just beaten him out on earlier throws.

Watson, who used a different javelin on Friday than he had been using all season, posted three throws over 57 meters which were his second-, third- and fourth-best throws of the year. His first throw of the day, which landed 56.69 meters away, was his fifth-best distance of the season.

"He upgraded to the big-boy javelin today," said assistant coach Chris Johnson. "He did a tremendous job of feeding off the pressure, staying relaxed and hitting great positions every throw. His rhythm, his tempo was consistent throughout the entire day."

The sophomore's fourth-place finish earned the Tulane men five points, and the team stands in sixth place through the first day of the three-day meet.

On the track, the 200-meter dash saw a very close call for the Green Wave as freshman Tahja Mitchell was thousandths of a second away from qualifying for Sunday's final. Mitchell placed second in her heat with a time of 24.149 seconds, just four thousandths behind the winner Ashley Seymour of Houston who came in with a time of 24.145 seconds.

Mitchell would wind up finishing in 11th place, three places out of the final qualifying spot. Also running in the 200 was Maya Harewood who took 18th in 24.27 seconds. Kyra Ness-Lanckriet was 31st in 25.54 seconds, and Oneke Gwan came in 33rd in 25.99 seconds.

The men's 200 saw Jaetavian Toles placing 19th in 22.42 seconds while Jalen LaCour was 21st in 22.60 seconds.

The 10K ended the night, with Carlos Zervigon leading the way on the men's side. The New Orleans native blew away his personal record, racing to a 10th-place finish in 31:30.64. His previous PR in the event was 32:33.80. Evans Kipchumba took 12th place with a race of 31:52.98, Joshua Cheruyot was 19th in 35:06.85 and Jamie Polakoff took 20th in 36:26.91.

Bridgid Selfors took 14th on the women's side, crossing the finish line in 38:22.97.

Louise Jones was two places away from qualifying for the finals in the 400 hurdles, running the race in 1:02.31 and knocking .21 seconds off her season best. Pauline Helm placed 19th in 1:05.14.

Skyler Guillot started the day in the javelin and posted a 13th-place finish with a distance of 37.42 meters (122-9). Guillot reached 31.85 meters on her first attempt of the day before adding more than five full meters to her second throw.

In the 800, Tom Coe placed 16th with a mark of 1:56.56. Paige Fatland finished 21st in the women's 800 to end her season with a time of 2:30.54.

Competition continues Saturday afternoon with the long jump, pole vault and 3K steeplechase finals along with trials of the 100 hurdles, 1500, 400 and 100.