Southland Indoor Championships Start Wednesday in Alabama
2/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
SFA at Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships
Wednesday, Feb. 22 – Thursday Feb. 23
Crossplex - Birmingham, Alabama
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Southland Conference Release
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin Track and Field team will wrap up their indoor schedule with a two-day meet in Birmingham, Ala. for the Southland Conference Indoor Championships. This will be the third consecutive championship held with the Birmingham, Crossplex. The facility is one of only six 200-meter hydraulically banked tracks designed by Mondo in the United States and one of eight in the world. The facility opened in 2011 and has hosted more than 100 events and continues to grow each year.
The meet will take place of two days, Wednesday and Thursday, with the first event being the start of the Heptathlon and Pentathlon. The women will start first with the 60 meter hurdles at 8:30 a.m. The men’s 60 meter dash for the heptathlon will follow after.
The first field events will begin at 1:00 p.m. with the women’s weight throw, and then the men’s long jump at 2:30 p.m. The running events are slated to get underway at 12:00 p.m. with the women’s and men’s 5000 meter races. The rest of the afternoon will consist of preliminary races on the track before the distance medley relay gets underway at 6:40 p.m. to close day one.
Thursday morning will be the wrap up of the heptathlon with the 60 meter hurdles event starting at 8:30 a.m. Field events will continue with the men’s weight throw first at 10:00 a.m. The first running event for Thursday will be the women’s 60m hurdles and then the 60m dash. All running events for the weekend will have women competing first, followed by the men. The relays are slated to begin at 3:20 p.m. that afternoon.
After a third place finish for the men’s and women’s teams in last year’s Indoor Championship, the Lumberjacks will be looking for a comeback year to put them back on the podium. Combined, SFA has more indoor team titles (10) than any other active league member. The Lumberjacks boast three championships, winning two of the last three years, while the Ladyjacks have won six of the last seven indoor SLC meets and eight overall since 2005. SFA has produced 91 individual indoor SLC champions – also the most in the league.
A handful of SFA student-athletes come into this week’s meet ranked in the top five of their respective events. Some of the SFA individuals to watch for at the podium are Aaron Piper (No. 4, 60m), Tedrick Hawkins (No. 4, 200m), Imani Nave (No. 5, 200m), Kerry Gleason (No. 3, 400m, No. 2, 60H), Tiffany Williams (No. 5, 400m), Caelidh Ross (No.4, 800m and No. 3, Mile), Taylor Anderson (No. 2, Mile, No. 4, 3000m), Shelby Pesek (No.4, Mile), Mary Luster (No. 5, 5000m), Jordan Washington (No. 3, 60H), Kadejah Wilson (No. 2, High Jump), Antonio Ruiz (T-No. 3, Pole Vault), Noah Gilfillan (T-No. 3, Pole Vault), Kaylee Bizzell (No. 3, Pole Vault), Isaiah Pittman (No.2, Long Jump, No. 3, Triple Jump), Lucas Akins (No.1, Shot Put, No.3, Weight Throw), Ben Bibby (No. 2, Weight Throw), Madeline Kaufmann (No. 3 Pentathlon), and Hunter Key (No. 2, Heptathlon).
All four relays are also ranked in the top five of the SLC coming in. The men’s 4x400m relay owns the best time on the conference this year, and the women’s squad is currently the second fastest in the league. The women’s and men’s DMR units rank first and fifth, respectively.
The Championships will be streamed live on the Southland Conference Digital Network. Fans can watch via Southland.org/live or the Southland Conference app. Live updated will also be provided throughout the course of the meet on Twitter (@SFA_TFXC).
-SFA-
