By BRIAN TYNES

News Editor

Tech won its first Western Athletic Conference Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship with a dominant performance at Jackson's Track at the Idaho State Sports Center in Boise, Idaho, on Feb. 24.

Entering the final day of competition, the Techsters were down by 1.5 points but never slowed down after placing first, second and third in the 60-meter hurdles.

Shandra Freeman broke her school record in the 60 meters with a time of 7.42 seconds, and Nina Gilbert broke her school record in the 400 with a 53.35.

The 4X400 meter-relay team finished with a 3:39.07, which in addition to being a WAC championship time was also a Jackson's Track record.

The team won the meet with a final score of 157, 73 points better than second-place Rice University.

The championship came six years after Tech won its last conference title in 1999 as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, and the margin of victory is a WAC championship record.

"An incredible performance by a great group of young ladies who represent Louisiana Tech in a first-class way," Tech head coach Gary Stanley said. "There was just a great outpouring of intensity and emotion by our athletes, especially considering what they had to go through Thursday with a 21-hour travel day."

Two years ago, the Techsters logged a third-place finish and last year a second-place finish. This year's championship is the icing on the cake for a program improving with each leap and sprint.

Freeman, Latonia Wilson, Gilbert, Doria Appleberry and the No. 9 nationally ranked 4X400 team earned first-place finishes, along with Ayanna Alexander, Bejide Williams and Shaterika Allen.

All individual and relay first-place finishes were NCAA provisional qualifying marks.

Donesha Spivey earned 22 points, the most for a single Lady Techster, by finishing second in the 60 and 200 and third in the long jump.

Tech's men placed fourth in a seven-team field with 69 points, which was the men's best WAC Indoor Championship total since joining the conference four years ago.

Johnathan Holland and Nolan Jackson finished first place in the 60 and 60-meter hurdles, respectively.

After leading the entire race, David Phillips finished second in the 800 with a 1:51.46.

Because of the stellar performance by the Techsters, Stanley was named women's indoor coach of the year, adding to last year's outdoor coach of the year award.

"This is not about me," Stanley said. "I have the two hardest-working assistant coaches in the league. Shawn [Jackson] and Larry [Carmichael] do a great job, and they are a huge part of why we are so successful. This would also not have been possible without the great support we have from our university. I work at a great university that allows us to be successful."

One week after winning the WAC title, the 1,600-meter relay team set the school record again with a 3:35.30, over two seconds faster than their previous record.

At the NCAA championships in Fayetteville, Ark., March 11, Gilbert and Williams were the only Tech representatives.

Williams finished 11th with 19 feet, 11 inches in the long jump. The mark was the eighth best, giving her All-American status.

Gilbert finished 16th in the 400 with a time of 54.74, a little over a second slower than her school-record time.