Olson Announces 2015 Track and Field Schedule
11/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin men’s and women’s track and field teams are in the thick of their fall training as they prepare for the fast-approaching competitive seasons. The track and field program at SFA has been a powerhouse in the Southland Conference and the 2015 schedule, as announced by head coach Phil Olson on Tuesday, gives the teams plenty of chances to showcase their talents.
“The schedule this year is a little bit different,” said Olson. “What the schedule does is reflects our attempts to be successful at both the conference level and at a national level. We have an elite group of athletes on this team and we want to take care of those athletes by making sure they’re getting the best quality competition and performances to set them up for a national caliber championship both in the indoor season and in the outdoor season. The upcoming season’s schedule really reflects that.
“We’re taking large groups of conference level athletes to some bigger meets, then we’re going to take a small number of athletes to some more competitive meets a little bit further away and give them the best opportunity to be successful.”
The Lumberjacks came one point shy of first-place Southeastern Louisiana in last year’s SLC Outdoor Championships and placed third as a team in the conference indoor meet.
The Ladyjacks are coming off runner-up finishes in both the indoor and outdoor SLC meets one year ago, with Sam Houston State winning both crowns.
The goal for the 2015 season is simple for each team: bring back both the indoor and outdoor SLC championship trophies – a feat that both the men and them women accomplished in 2013.
“The expectation never changes for us,” Olson said. “The expectation is that we be a conference championship team. People around here expect nothing less, we expect nothing less, and our kids expect nothing less. If we finish any worse than first then people are a little bit disappointed, as I am and my coaching staff and our kids are. The expectation is to win championships and we’ve had some success with that in recent years and it never changes.”
The SFA track and field athletes will travel all over the country to compete in meets leading up to the conference championships. The indoor season officially kicks off for SFA on Friday, Jan. 9, when most athletes will be traveling to Fayetteville, Ark. to compete in the Arkansas Tri-Meet. The same day, SFA will be represented by its pole vault specialists in the Akron Pole Vault Convention in Akron, Ohio. Senior Colton Ross, who took first place in both the 2013 indoor and outdoor SLC championships in 2014, grabbed fifth in the event last season.
The Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks will stay in Texas for the next three meets before the New Mexico Classic in Albuquerque, N.M. wraps up the regular season indoor slate. The teams will then turn their attention to the 2015 SLC Indoor Championships set for Feb. 16-17 in Birmingham, Ala.
The 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships will be held in Fayetteville, Ark. from March 13-14.
The outdoor schedule will feature eight potential meets over seven weekends before the SLC Outdoor Championships in Hammond, La. on May 8-10. An event highlighted on everyone’s calendars will be the Skecher’s Carl Kight Invitational, a meet hosted by SFA at Homer Bryce Stadium from April 2-3.
Two weekends later on April 18, the track and field teams will split between the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas and the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
Just as they did in 2014, the men’s and women’s teams will look to have multiple athletes competing into June with national championship implications. The NCAA preliminary rounds are set for May 29-31 in Austin, Texas and the 2015 outdoor track and field season will conclude in Eugene, Ore. with the NCAA Outdoor Championships from June 10-13.
But before SFA begins its quest for four more SLC team titles and strong showings in the national ranks, the Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks will compete in the annual purple/white intrasquad meet still this fall.
“We’ve got our purple/white intrasquad meet which is our culminating meet of the fall season coming up from Nov. 17th through the 20th,” said Olson. “That’s a really big fall competitive effort for us. After that, we’ll get a pretty good idea who we have on the team, who we’re planning on bringing back in January and basically establishing our indoor squad for 2015.
“It’s been a great fall of training. The weather has been hot and when it’s not hot the weather’s been just about perfect. Anytime you get good weather and a good group of young men and women that are motivated and want to work hard then that’s very exciting for us. We’re really looking forward to the 2015 season.”
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