Track standouts compete at NCAAs
Three Texas State track and field athletes are competing in the NCAA outdoor championships this week in Eugene, Ore. junior high jumper — Chelsie Decoud, senior tri- ple jumper Mylana Hearn and sophomore shot putter T’Mond Johnson.
Johnson, who’s compet- ing at the NCAA outdoors for the first time, finished 21st in the men’s shot put final Wednesday night after throwing 18.31 meters. He qualified for the finals after a throw of 18.8 meters in the prelims; it was the third best throw in school history.
It’s the second straight year Decoud and Hearn are at the NCAAs. Both won bronze medals at the Sun Belt Tournament, helping the Bobcats to a conference championship. It was the first time Texas State won the indoor and outdoor titles since joining the Sun Belt.
“We knew that we could take outdoor,” Hearn said about the conference cham- pionships. “We knew we just had to have the same mind- set. My freshman year, we won indoor and we were favored to win outdoor but everyone thought it was just going to be handed to us and it didn’t happen. I think a lot of the seniors kept everyone in line this year.”
Hearn qualified after recording a personal-best leap of 13.09 meters in preliminaries, which was the fifth best triple jump in program history. She will compete in the triple jump final on Saturday.
Decoud cleared 1.79 meters in the high jump in the prelims. Her high jump final also is on Saturday.
Men’s basketball adds one more: With the departure of forward Maxwell Starwood, the men’s basketball team had one more scholarship to give out for 2017. It filled that vacancy Wednesday, signing Lamar State College-Port Arthur forward Petar Radojicic.
Radojicic is a 23-year old junior with two years of eligibility left. He held offers from San Diego, Jacksonville University and McNeese State.
“I chose Texas State because of the great basketball program and because of the history of the school,” Radojicic said. “(Head coach Danny Kaspar) came to see me at practice. He is oldschool and a great coach. All good thoughts on him.”
Radojicic is originally from Serbia and has been living in the U.S. for three years. He said the presence of current Bobcats forward Nedja Prijovic, who is also from Serbia, was another determining factor in his decision.