Richardson - Texas A&M University-Commerce high jumper Ushan Perera won the Lone Star Conference's Oscar Strahan Award for outstanding male field athlete, leading 23 total All-LSC performers, as announced Wednesday.
Perera (Mahabage, Sri Lanka) was recognized for his performance in the high jump of 2.30 meters (7' 6 ½"). This is the second-highest clearance in the world this season, the second-highest in Division II and Lone Star Conference history, and another Sri Lankan national record and South Asian record. This also ties him on this year's collegiate performance list with LSU's JuVaughn Harrison and extends his school record.
Perera was also named the LSC indoor male field athlete of the year earlier this year. He is the Lions' eighth all-time winner of the Strahan Award, joining Russell Polhemus in 1965, John Burch in 1979, Mike Gallagher in 1982, J.R. Hanley in 1983, Carlos Johnson in 1994, Marques McCullough in 2005, and Florian Obst in 2017. The award dates back to 1961.
15 men and eight women earned All-LSC honors for the Lions, including 12 first teamers for the men and six first teamers for the women.
The list of all-conference performers includes the first team, which consists of event winners, all members of the winning relay teams, and athletes scoring 14 or more points at the LSC Championships. The second team includes athletes on the second-place relay teams and those scoring 8-13.9 points, while the third team recognizes members of third-place relay teams and athletes scoring 6-7.9 points. Overall, 68 men and 57 women were honored.
For the Lion men, Micky Ferdinand (St. Lucia) was the high point winner with 15 points combined from the high jump, pole vault, and long jump. Other first teamers were event winners including Ryan Amador (Jonesboro, Ark.) in the shot put, Josh Boateng (St. George's Grenada) in the discus, the 4x100 meter relay team of Delan Edwin, Malcolm Woods, J.T. Smith, and Andre Norman, and the 4x400 meter relay team of Jordan Hollis, Gage Marshall, Dakari Hill, and Conner Stockerl.
For the Lion women, Minna Svaerd (Karlstad, Sweden) scored 22.5 points with wins in the pole vault, 400 meter hurdles and the 4x400 meter relay.
Candesha Scott (Grenada) was an event winner in the javelin, and Danielle Nicholson, Ro'Nisha Simpson, and Atiana Alexander made up the rest of the 4x400 meter relay team.
MEN'S ALL-CONFERENCE PERFORMERS
SPECIAL AWARDS
Outstanding Male Track Athlete (Cap Shelton Award): Benjamin Azamati, West Texas A&M
Outstanding Male Field Athlete (Oscar Strahan Award): Ushan Perera, A&M-Commerce
Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year: Matt Stewart, West Texas A&M
| FIRST TEAM | |||
| Athlete | School | Points | Event winner |
| Trpimir Siroki | Angelo State | 23.5 | |
| Benjamin Azamati | West Texas A&M | 23 | 100 meters, 200 meters |
| Jorge Rios | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 22 | |
| Ezekiel Kipchirchir | West Texas A&M | 20 | 10,000 meters, 3,000-steeplechase |
| James Majenge | Cameron | 18 | 5,000 meters |
| Micky Ferdinand | A&M-COMMERCE | 15 | |
| Peniel Richard | West Texas A&M | 14 | Triple Jump |
| Ryan Amador | A&M-COMMERCE | 14 | Shot Put |
| Elvis Kryukov | Angelo State | 13 | Decathlon |
| Nicholas Ellisor | Angelo State | 12 | 400 meters |
| Tyrin Lewis | West Texas A&M | 12 | 110 hurdles |
| Delan Edwin | A&M-COMMERCE | 11.5 | 4x100 relay |
| Butare Rugenerwa | West Texas A&M | 11 | 1,500 meters |
| Dylan Burrows | Oklahoma Christian | 10.5 | 800 meters |
| Malcolm Woods | A&M-COMMERCE | 10.5 | 4x100 relay |
| J.T Smith | A&M-COMMERCE | 10.5 | 4x100 relay |
| Dhanushka Sandaruwan | West Texas A&M | 10 | Long Jump |
| Ushan Perera | A&M-COMMERCE | 10 | High Jump |
| Decio Andrade | Angelo State | 10 | Hammer Throw |
| Devoux Deysel | Angelo State | 10 | Javelin |
| Samuel Wing | Lubbock Christian | 10 | 400 hurdles |
| Josh Boateng | A&M-COMMERCE | 10 | Discus |
| Jacobee Jones | Angelo State | 10 | Pole Vault |
| Jordan Hollis | A&M-COMMERCE | 8.5 | 4x400 Relay |
| Gage Marshall | A&M-COMMERCE | 7.5 | 4x400 Relay |
| Dakari Hill | A&M-COMMERCE | 7.5 | 4x400 Relay |
| Andre Norman | A&M-COMMERCE | 2.5 | 4x100 relay |
| Conner Stockerl | A&M-COMMERCE | 2.5 | 4x400 Relay |
| SECOND TEAM | ||
| Ahmed Omer | West Texas A&M | 12 |
| Innocent Murwanashyaka | West Texas A&M | 11 |
| Nicodemus Rotich | A&M-COMMERCE | 11 |
| Ja'Micah Polk | Angelo State | 10.5 |
| Arnaud Taki | West Texas A&M | 10 |
| Michael Rodriguez | Angelo State | 10 |
| William Calvert | Angelo State | 10 |
| Taylor Chaney | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 9.5 |
| Verrell McBride | Oklahoma Christian | 9.5 |
| Angel Luera | DBU | 8.75 |
| Jared Gilley | DBU | 8.75 |
| Nathan Blackwell | Angelo State | 8.5 |
| Johnathon Harper | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 8.25 |
| Kabren Wills | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 8 |
| Chaney Martin | Oklahoma Christian | 8 |
| Emmanuel Too | West Texas A&M | 8 |
| Daniel Haymes | West Texas A&M | 8 |
| Noah Metzger | DBU | 8 |
| Mahmoud Massoud | West Texas A&M | 8 |
| Loic Rodrigues | West Texas A&M | 8 |
| Guillaume Devries | West Texas A&M | 8 |
| Gianluca Tamberi | Angelo State | 8 |
| Trayveon Franklin | A&M-COMMERCE | 8 |
| Desmond Aryee | West Texas A&M | 7 |
| Jakob Porter | Angelo State | 3 |
| Jahmaal Wilson | West Texas A&M | 2 |
| THIRD TEAM | ||
| Arsheal Ates | UT Tyler | 7.25 |
| Bryce Spencer | Lubbock Christian | 7 |
| Cameron Cross | Angelo State | 7 |
| Jay Hall | West Texas A&M | 7 |
| Dorian Andrews | A&M-COMMERCE | 6 |
| Luis Alvarado | Angelo State | 6 |
| Cade Halliburton | West Texas A&M | 6 |
| Jordan Wilson | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 6 |
| Ryan Scalet | Angelo State | 6 |
| Sterling Riles | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 5.5 |
| Diego Pettorossi | Angelo State | 4.5 |
| Johnny Davila | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 3.5 |
| Bryson Dyer | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 2.5 |
| David Morgan | Angelo State | 1.5 |
WOMEN'S ALL-CONFERENCE PERFORMERS
SPECIAL AWARDS
Outstanding Female Track Athlete (Wes Kittley Award): Summer Grubbs, UT Tyler
Outstanding Female Field Athlete (David Noble Award): Taylor Nelloms, West Texas A&M
Women's Track and Field Coach of the Year: Matt Stewart, West Texas A&M
| FIRST TEAM | |||
| Athlete | School | Points | Event winner |
| Taylor Nelloms | West Texas A&M | 28 | High Jump, Triple Jump |
| Antonija Radic | Angelo State | 26.5 | Long Jump |
| Zada Swoopes | West Texas A&M | 24 | Shot Put |
| Minna Sveard | A&M-COMMERCE | 22.5 | Pole Vault, 400 hurdles, 4x400 Relay |
| Alana Wilson | West Texas A&M | 20 | 4x100 relay |
| Florance Uwajeneza | West Texas A&M | 20 | 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters |
| Eleonora Curtabbi | West Texas A&M | 20 | 1,500 meters, 3,000-steeplechase |
| Summer Grubbs | UT Tyler | 20 | Heptathlon |
| Valda Kabia | West Texas A&M | 19 | 200 meters, 4x100 relay |
| Daisy Osakue | Angelo State | 16 | Discus |
| Seselia Dala | West Texas A&M | 16 | |
| Madison Brown | DBU | 16 | |
| DeOndra Green | West Texas A&M | 15.5 | 100 meters, 4x100 relay |
| Karlea Duhon | Angelo State | 15 | |
| Leah Belfield | West Texas A&M | 14.5 | 4x100 relay |
| Laiten Greeson | West Texas A&M | 14 | 100 hurdles |
| Sara Ramos | Angelo State | 14 | Hammer Throw |
| Shiean Walters | Angelo State | 13.5 | 400 meters |
| Candesha Scott | A&M-COMMERCE | 10 | Javelin |
| Malethabo Seema | Eastern New Mexico | 10 | 800 meters |
| Danielle Nicholson | A&M-COMMERCE | 12.5 | 4x400 Relay |
| Ro'Nisha Simpson | A&M-COMMERCE | 5.5 | 4x400 Relay |
| Atiana Alexander | A&M-COMMERCE | 2.5 | 4x400 Relay |
| SECOND TEAM | ||
| Johanna Stegmaier | Angelo State | 12.5 |
| Analynne Klotz | DBU | 12 |
| Miriam Zanovello | West Texas A&M | 12 |
| Mia Van Oudsthoorn | Angelo State | 11 |
| Madelyn Merrell | Lubbock Christian | 10.25 |
| Jessica Campbell | Eastern New Mexico | 10 |
| Hailey Wanoreck | A&M-COMMERCE | 10 |
| Mercy Rotich | Eastern New Mexico | 10 |
| Kelsey Castillo | Oklahoma Christian | 10 |
| Hannah Porter | Angelo State | 9.5 |
| Zykia McDaniel | Angelo State | 9.5 |
| Ellie Hovre | St. Edward's | 9 |
| Abby Zamzow | Angelo State | 9 |
| Elliot Harrison | West Texas A&M | 8.5 |
| Mijah Collier | UT Tyler | 8 |
| Joey Zimmerman | West Texas A&M | 8 |
| Talena Murray | Angelo State | 8 |
| Daphne Pate | West Texas A&M | 8 |
| Brooke Urban | West Texas A&M | 8 |
| Shadaria Hall | A&M-COMMERCE | 5 |
| Genevie Rivera | Angelo State | 5 |
| Sarah Porter | Angelo State | 3.5 |
| Braeja Johnson | A&M-COMMERCE | 2 |
| THIRD TEAM | ||
| Ajah Wilson | West Texas A&M | 7 |
| Nele Heinrich | West Texas A&M | 6.5 |
| Jezell Shows | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 6.5 |
| Gertrudis Ruiz-Balli | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 6 |
| Jenna Thorman | DBU | 6 |
| Taylor Roberson | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 6 |
| Katie Till | Midwestern State | 6 |
| Asha James | West Texas A&M | 6 |
| Alana Holloway | Angelo State | 6 |
| Madison Thetford | West Texas A&M | 6 |
| Kayla Wilson | West Texas A&M | |