LAFAYETTE, La. (5/12/16) – The championship outdoor season for the Arkansas State University track and field teams has arrived as the Red Wolves are set to compete this weekend (May 13-15) in the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Lafayette, La.
“We've had a pretty good outdoor season and both our men's and women's teams have a chance to do well this weekend,” said A-State head coach Jim Patchell. “On paper it looks to be a two or three team race on both sides with us among those. The Sun Belt meet is always tough and we need to compete well and have some good performances.”
The three-day conference meet will be conducted at the Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility with the University of Louisiana-Lafayette serving as the host institution.
The league meet begins Friday (May 13) with the first half of the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon, slated to begin at 9 a.m. (CT) and 9:30 a.m. (CT), respectively. The women's hammer throw competition also begins at 10 a.m. (CT) Friday with the men's hammer throw to follow at 12:30 p.m. (CT). The women's (3:30 p.m.) and men's (5:00 p.m.) javelin will be contested as well along with the women's pole vault (5:00 p.m.). The lone track events Friday are the 10,000 meter run for the women at 8:30 p.m. (CT) and men at 9:15 p.m. (CT).
Second-day action this Saturday (May 14) will consist of multi-events and field events finals along with running event preliminaries and finals in both the men's and women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Third and final day competition on Sunday (May 15) gets underway with field events at 10 a.m. (CT) and the running events start at 5 p.m. (CT).
The A-State women look to defend their outdoor crown from a year ago. The squad boasts 22 top-eight marks on the Sun Belt performance list to date and 20 of those marks rank in the top-five. After finishing third at the indoor championships, the Red Wolves enter this weekend's action poised for success as the women's team features top-eight marks in 16 of the conference's 21 events.
Kristina Knott has registered the conference's top outdoor time this season in the 100 meters (11.43) and is second in the 200 meters (23.72) and long jump (5.96m/19-06.75). Earlier this year, Erin Farmer set a school-record in the shot put (17.23m/56-06.50) and she is atop the Sun Belt Performance list entering the weekend. Samone Thompson, who won the indoor pentathlon, has the top point total (5,003 pts) in the heptathlon, a mark she set earlier this year at the Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility in the Louisiana Classic.
On the men's side, the Red Wolves are coming off a third place finish at the indoor championships and finished second at the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships. A-State boasts top-eight marks in 17 of the 21 events.
Roelf Pienaar has the league-lead in the long jump with a wind-aided leap of 8.08m (26-06.75) set in the final meet ahead of the SBC Championships. His top wind-legal mark of the year in the long jump is 7.79m (25-06.75) which would rank second on the performance list. Pienaar is second on the performance list in the triple jump (15.75m/51-08.25) and is expected to run in the 100-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay for A-State.
Jaylen Bacon has the league-best mark in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.31 seconds, a mark set at the Louisiana Classic earlier this year. Wil Norris, who owns the school record in the 5,000-meter run and is now second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, carries the second-best times in the Sun Belt Conference this season in the 5,000-meter run (14:30.75), the 10,000-meter run (30:28.47) and 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:59.42).
Itamar Levi ranks second in the shot put (18.20m/59-08.50) and discus throw (57.28m/187-11) while Cristian Ravar Ladislau ranks second in the hammer throw (63.25m/207-06) to position the Red Wolves for points in the throws as well.
Fans can follow Arkansas State track and field on Twitter (@AStateTrack) to receive the latest information and team updates. Meet results and notables will be available via Twitter (@AStateGameday) as well. Live video and results are available via links on the A-State Track & Field schedule on AStateRedWolves.com.
