The Prairie View A&M University women’s track & field squad closed out its 2023 season at the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship capturing a back-to-back outdoor team title on Saturday during the 2023 SWAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship, on their own track. Prairie View A&M’s Interim Head Women’s Coach Erik Dixon was named the SWAC Coach of the Year on Saturday.
Dixon was named the SWAC Women’s Track & Field Outdoor Coach of the Year following the Lady Panthers team title. It marks Dixon’s first-career coach of the year honor after being an assistant coach for several years.
Erik Dixon
“I’ve been an assistant coach for well over 15 years and have been a part of teams that have won championships [seven] and never have had the honor to receive the Coach of the Year Award. This is a first for me and I am truly blessed and fortunate to have such a great honor bestowed on me. This team, by far, is a great team and I am absolutely proud to be their coach. It has always been the assistant coaches behind the scenes doing the work and I appreciate the fact that I am able to be on the other side to receive this award.”
The Lady Panthers collected 159 points in the 21 events scored with the help of nine event wins and four additional podium finishes, ending the meet with a 54-point lead over runner-up Southern University (105.333).
“I am so proud of these young ladies,” said Dixon. “It was a bit challenging for us at first, but they rose to the occasion and made this weekend really special. It’s really special when you are able to compete at home in front of friends, family, peers, and the community.”
“It was a super team effort this weekend, from the top to the bottom, the overall performances were absolutely stellar. Today [Saturday] started with the 4×100 and continued with the performance of Asjah Harris in the women’s 100- and 200-meter dash. We scored points in 16 of the 21 events.”
PVAMU’s 4×100 relay quartet of Sydnee Stewart, Harris, Darnisha Lykes, and Antwanique Kinsler began the string of Saturday’s events. The ladies ran a season-best of 45.02, just .03 seconds over runner-up Florida A&M. The Lady Panthers ended the day with the final relay win, sending Harris, J. Sabir, Jalen Elrod, and Kinsler out for the 4x400m. They posted another season-best time of 3:40.75 finishing 1.50 seconds ahead of Alabama State (3.42.25).
Harris posted top performances in the 100m with a personal best time of 11.35, and 23.26 in the women’s 200. Kinsler just missed the women’s 400m title by .10 (53.60) behind Florida A&M’s winner Teleda Williams, who posted a time of 53.50.
PVAMU put up two more podium appearances on Saturday to add to its point total. Runelda Jackson placed second overall in the women’s 5000m with a time of 19:40.45. Although no podium appearances were made, she added two points in the 1500m for a seventh-place finish. Savoria Anderson placed third in the Triple jump with a pr jump of 12.55m (41-02.25).
Other Lady Panthers who scored was Jyzmin Gray, who placed fourth in the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 13.93 (5 points). Jade Sabir scored three points in the women’s 200m dash for a sixth-place finish. Naomi Davis and Shelby Devereaux placed seventh and eighth in the 5000m run respectively. Davis finished seventh with a time of 29:53.93 and Devereaux placed eighth with a time of 22:05.93.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M – 159
Southern – 105.33
Alabama State – 99
Jackson State – 78.33
Texas Southern – 74
Grambling State 64.5
Florida A&M – 63
Alabama A&M – 52.33
Alcorn State – 43.5
Ark. Pine Bluff – 36
Bethune Cookman – 24
Mississippi Valley -10
UP NEXT
The Lady Panthers will await the official NCAA announcement of qualifying individuals to the NCAA West Preliminary, which is scheduled for May 24-27 on the campus of the Sacramento State University – Hornet Stadium.
Keep up with all the latest news and information for PVAMU athletics by following pvpanthers.com as well as through Twitter via the PVAMU general sports account (@PVAMUPanthers). You can also follow along on Instagram.com/pvamupanther