Track and Field Set to Compete in Ted Nelson Invitational at Texas A&M Over Weekend

Saturday, January 13

College Station, Texas

ALL DAY

Stephen F. Austin

Texas A&M Twelve Team Invitational

Track and Field Set to Compete in Ted Nelson Invitational at Texas A&M Over Weekend

1/12/2018 9:03:00 AM | Track & Field

SFA opens the indoor season with annual meet in College Station

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

2018 Ted Nelson Invitational
Hosted by Texas A&M
January 13, 2018
Live Results | Live Webcast

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- More than one month removed from the meet that was supposed to start its season, the Stephen F. Austin track and field team will instead kick off its indoor season at the Ted Nelson Invitational in College Station, Texas this weekend. The majority of athletes on the team will be making their season debut after the Dunamis Sports Group meet, which was schedule to take place on December 1st and 2nd, was canceled after the team had already arrived on site.

"It was a great disappointment to us to not be able to compete in December," said SFA track and field head coach Phil Olson. "We always feel like we are prepared to compete, excited about competing and not being able to do that as we had planned was kind of hard. It's been five weeks since then, and I think we're all just ready to get on the bus and go compete, wherever that is. There's a sense of urgency to just get our uniforms on and go compete. Training has gone extremely well, our athletes have been great in these past ten days coming back from the new year, we've worked hard, had some fun, but it's time to get to work and compete and see where we are as a team."

Flush with confidence and a history of competing well at the annual meet hosted by Texas A&M, the 'Jacks will send a full squad to compete in the action, which begins Friday afternoon with the DMR (Distance Medley Relay), the 4x400 relay and the 5000 meter run. Saturday's schedule features the remainder of the track and field events, beginning at noon and projecting to run into the early evening. Athletes from seven programs (Texas A&M, Abilene Christian, Army, Clemson,Texas State, UT-Arlington and UT-San Antonio) will compete alongside their counterparts from SFA in the two day meet.

"Texas A&M has one of the best indoor facilities in the nation, and possibly the world," details Olson. "We get one opportunity a year to go there, Coach Henry at A&M has always been very welcoming to our program, and it means a lot to be able to compete with some Power Five schools in Texas A&M, Texas and Clemson, and then you have Army coming, and then a lot of the local Texas schools, so we're thrilled to have the opportunity to go there."

With months of training and practice under their belts, the athletes from SFA are eager to begin the season, and confidence among the staff and athletes is high as the team heads into the 19th season under Olson. The opening meet of the season represents a chance for every athlete to set a preliminary mark for their season, and for the team to take stock of its strengths moving forward.

"We all go into the meet with a sense of confidence, but after the meet you get to see what the reality is," explained Olson. "You get to see who is at the higher level, who your competitors are. We spoke to the team about how excited we to see what kind of team we have, because we feel like we have a very good team, and we've historically competed well at the Texas A&M meet. Everything we've discussed as a coaching staff is that we are ready to compete at a high level this weekend."

Despite the unfortunate cancelation of the Dunamis Sports Group Meet last month, several members of the team were able to make their season debuts in meets held at Pittsburg State and North Dakota State in the middle of December. Multi athletes Hunter Key and Conner Wilbur both turned in quality performances in the heptathlon in Fargo, with a third and fourth place finish, respectively. Both will return to action this weekend, with Key set to compete in the hurdles and shot put, while Wilbur will compete in the long jump and high jump. Also entering the weekend with one competition under their belt will be pole vaulters Carson Dingler and Antonio Ruiz, each of whom enters the weekend ranked Top 10 nationally in the pole vault after their strong performances in Pittsburg, Kansas on the 10th of December. Dingler, a freshman, currently ranks third in the nation with a mark of 4.20m, while Ruiz sits ninth after having set a mark of 5.22m.

Live results of the meet will be posted on the website listed above, while viewers can watch the event on SEC Network Plus by following the above link and signing in with their TV provider.

-SFA-