NORMAN, Okla. (Feb. 23, 2019) – Destiny Grace didn't think she'd do it and Lawanda Harvey needed every bit of her considerable speed to do so, but both earned individual conference championships for Oklahoma Christian on Saturday.

Grace took top honors in the shot put while Harvey won the 200 meters in the inaugural Great American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the University of Oklahoma's Mosier Indoor Facility.

To cap a memorable day, OC sophomore Temar Smith – with nearly all of her teammates chanting her on – broke a 31-year-old school record in the triple jump. OC finished the meet with 62 team points, good for third place among the eight GAC teams that competed.

Grace, a junior from Rockwall, Texas, won the outdoor GAC title in the shot put last April but wasn't sure she'd be able to match that feat indoors. It was close, but she did, producing a throw of 42 feet, 4¼ inches (12.91 meters) to edge Cooper Monn of Harding (Ark.), whose best throw was 42 feet, 1½ inches (12.84 meters).

Grace's OC teammate, senior Maia Zeno of Heath, Texas, also earned All-GAC second-team honors in the shot put, placing fifth at 40 feet, 2¼ inches (12.25 meters).

On the track, Harvey was third in the 60-meter preliminary round, but ran a near-flawless race in the final to finish in 7.75 seconds, just .02 ahead of Harding's Ashley Reinert. It was the first GAC title for Harvey, who has been among the league's top sprinters since arriving at OC.

Later Saturday, she earned a runner-up finish in the 200 meters in 25.66 seconds, just behind McKae Mitchell of Oklahoma Baptist at 25.46 seconds. Harvey now has earned seven All-GAC first-team honors in her career.

Grace and Harvey "have been really consistent for us over the years and competed at a high level," OC coach Wade Miller said. "They have given our women's team a lot of points."

The triple jump was the last event to finish and as Smith, a sophomore from McKinney, Texas, and freshman Morgan Ray of Edmond competed, their teammates gathered near the jumping pit to provide vocal support.

On Smith's fourth attempt, she posted a mark of 35 feet, 8 inches (10.87 meters). That just broke the oldest mark in the OC record book, a mark of 35 feet, 7¾ inches set in 1988 by Gwen Beauford. Only one OC record set in the 1980s still stands, that in the high jump.

Smith finished fifth and Ray sixth, the latter with a mark of 34 feet, 8½ inches (10.58 meters), as both earned All-GAC second-team honors.

One other field event also produced two All-GAC second-team honorees from OC, as Zeno was fourth in the weight throw at 49 feet, 7¾ inches (15.13 meters) and senior Alexus Woolly of Ardmore, Okla., was fifth at 48 feet, 6¼ inches (14.79 meters).  

"The field events are often the ones that get off in weird spots on the track, or don't get quite as much coverage, but this year, and in years past, those field events have been really key to a lot of our success," Miller said.

OC picked up two All-GAC spots in the 60-meter hurdles, with junior Ivy Lobley of Dalhart, Texas, third in 9.39 seconds (making the first-team list) and junior Jordyn Williams of McKinney, Texas, fifth in 9.41 seconds (good for second-team recognition).

Kelsey Castillo, a junior from Edmond, was sixth in the mile with a time of 5:25.11 while Kelsey Simmons, a junior from Shawnee, was fifth in the 800 meters in 2:25.56. Both made the All-GAC second-team list.

Oklahoma Baptist won the team title with 234 points, with Harding second with 125 points. OC beat East Central (31 points), Rogers State (29), Northwestern Oklahoma State (25), Southern Nazarene (14) and Arkansas Tech (3). Two GAC schools, Southern Arkansas and Southwestern Oklahoma State, didn't send teams to the meet.

Highlights: https://youtu.be/vdzO_YbaoMg