SFA Battles With Nation's Best at Texas Relays
3/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
2015 Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Headquarters
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin track and field teams are heading to one of the biggest meets in the country this week as 39 athletes are competing in the 88th Annual Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium this weekend. The event, hosted by the University of Texas, will feature more than 7,000 entries with some of the top talent in the sport competing.
The meet will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network with coverage of each day's action. All fans will also be able to watch the events via Watch ESPN(ESPN3). A complete schedule of the television coverage can be found on the Texas Relays Headquarters page.
Tickets are available for individual days or session passes through the UT Athletics Ticket Office. Fans can call 512-471-3333 or go to TexasSports.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the ticket window at Myers Stadium. Entry on Wednesday and Thursday is free.
SFA is coming off a big indoor season as both the Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks took home team titles at the 2015 Southland Conference Indoor Championships last month. Already one meet into the outdoor season, the `Jacks earned numerous top-five finishes last weekend at the Alabama Relays in Tuscaloosa and will look to continue that success among the nation's best this weekend.
The decathlon and heptathlon events open the meet with the conclusion of the multi-events closing on Thursday morning beginning at 10:00 a.m. Field events are slated to begin at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday while the first running session of the meet starts at 4:30 p.m. late on Thursday afternoon.
For all information regarding live results, schedules, parking, heat sheets, photo galleries and more, go to the 2015 Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Headquarters page here.
RETURN OF PAYNE
After taking a weekend off after competing in the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships, NCAA women's pole vault record holder Demi Payne will make her outdoor debut this weekend with the nation's elite. Nine of the 11 women in the Section A field competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Payne, who earned Honorable Mention All-American status at the event, is coming off a historic indoor season. She broke the NCAA record three times and won six individual titles overall, most recently claiming gold at the USA Track and Field Championships in Boston on March 1. She will begin her quest for yet another title on Saturday at noon.
RHODES FINISHING UP
Senior Cody Rhodes is the first SFA athlete to begin competition at the Texas Relays this week. The multi-events specialist opened the meet in the men's decathlon field of 20. After the first day of action, Rhodes posted 3,547 points. The event will wrap up early on Thursday afternoon.
SLC CHAMPS IN ACTION
SFA boasted nine event champions at the SLC indoor meet in the middle of February. Of those nine, five will be competing this weekend. Three of the four men (Johnathan Joe, Joshua Taylor and My'Lik Kerley) who took first in the 4x400 meter relay will be in action along with Brarysheyia Simpson (sprints), Demi Payne (pole vault), Chasity Clark (sprints) and Charles Mathenge (distance).
RED HOT RELAYS
The SFA relay teams on both the men and women's sides are off to good starts to the outdoor season. The men's 4x400 meter relay highlighted the final day of the Alabama Relays last Saturday, as the team of Johnathan Joe, My'Lik Kerley, Tedrick Hawkins and Joshua Taylor took first out of 23 schools with a time of 3:09.10. After the first outdoor meet of the year, the Lumberjacks' time is tied for the third fastest in the country with Georgia. The women's squad of Jessica Hatchett, DeJernel Jordan, Aliyah Davis and Brarysheyia Simpson performed well in the same event, running to a fourth place finish out of 19 teams with a time of 3:49.37. Both 4x400 relays will conclude the meet, starting at 4:05 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE
Junior Trevon Caudle had big performances in Tuscaloosa last week. He topped the list of SFA finishers with a second place showing in the men's 100-meter dash on Friday, coming in at 10.72 seconds - just one one-hundredth of a second shy of his personal best time. He also ran a leg in the men's 4x100 meter relay that took third on Saturday. DeAndre Burns, Jared Love and Aaron Piper will join Caudle this weekend in the same event set for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday while the 100-meter finals are on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
UP NEXT
At the conclusion of the Texas Relays, SFA will turn its attention to its home meet - the Carl Kight Invitational - held next week at Homer Bryce Stadium on Thursday and Friday.
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