The Barton Community College women's track and field team opened up the outdoor season this past weekend competing in the Louisiana Classic hosted by the University of Louisiana in Lafayette.

The Cougars came away from the event with two first place finishes amongst its six top-five placings.

Finishing fifth in the seventeen athlete hammer throw field, Ana da Silva continued her strong throwing season in chalking a program third best throw in placing fifth in the seventeen athlete hammer throw field. Ranking second best in school history on the shot put and weight throw charts, Da Silva bettered her second throw Saturday of 54.65m with a 55.15m (180-11) mark on her fifth throw.

The jumping duo of Annia Ashley and Nia Robinson also continued their strong performances in placing 1-2 in the triple jump with Ashley marking a 12.10m (39-08.50) while Robinson marked an 11.99m (39-04.00).

On Friday, Shemia Odaine led the Cougar sprinters with the 200m title on a 24.63 clocking. Competing in Saturday's long jump, Odaine nearly grabbed her second title but fell less than four inches shy with a 5.85m (19-02.50) sand landing. Returning to the sprint track later in the day, Odaine clocked an 11.92 to place sixth in the 100m dash.

Lashanna Graham nearly etched her name on the program's top ten list by a mere .33 of a second, making her outdoor 400m hurdle debut on a 1:00.83 time in placing third behind a pair of LSU athletes. Graham also had a strong showing in the 200m with a sixth place 25.49 time.

Barton stays in state for its next meet, traveling to Arkansas City on Saturday for the Cowley Tiger Invitational beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Complete Louisiana Classic results