NATCHITOCHES - For the first time in 11 years, the Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships are being hosted by Northwestern State at the Walter Ledet Track Complex, beginning with competition Friday and continuing through late Sunday afternoon.
Some of the nation's top collegiate competitors will be on hand beginning Friday morning with the start of the decathlon, where two of the top 10 and three of the top 25 performers in NCAA Division I are among the contestants.
Overall, four athletes ranked in the national top 10 are slated to compete this weekend, with 19 performances by Southland competitors ranking in the top 25 and a total of 36 marks that rank in the nation's top 50.
"We're fortunate to have the caliber of competition that is going to take place here this weekend," said Leon Johnson, in his 29th year as the head track and field coach at Northwestern. "There's no doubt some of the athletes here will go on to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. There will be dozens of NCAA Regional qualifiers for the East and West Regions. There may even be a few athletes who go on to compete in the Olympic Games in 2012."
With more than 600 competitors converging on Natchitoches, along with team staff and fans from the 12 member institutions of the Southland Conference, the meet will have a significant economic impact on the local and regional economy, said Johnson.
"That's one of the best aspects of hosting the conference championships. Local hotels, gas stations, restaurants, retailers, and the Downtown Historic District shops will see people in town for the meet, and the sales taxes generated will benefit the entire community," he said.
Major support for the 2011 Southland Outdoor Championships is being provided by the Natchitoches Convention and Tourism Bureau, the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission, Coca-Cola, and Brookshire's Grocery.
All-session passes for the three-day meet are $15 for adults, $10 for youth, with students of Southland Conference member institutions and children ages 5-under free. Single-day passes are $10 for adults, $5 for youth (ages 6-18).
Tickets can be purchased online through ticket links at www.nsudemons.com, by calling the NSU ticket office (318-357-4268), and using VISA, MasterCard or American Express. Transactions at the ticket booth, located at the gate of the NSU Soccer complex adjacent to the Ledet Track Complex, will be cash only during the meet.
The competition begins with multi-event action Friday morning, May 13 with the first finals staged that afternoon, the women's (3:30) and men's (6:00) discus. NSU's Trecey Rew is the defending women's discus champion and was also the NCAA East Region champion last year. The 10,000 meter runs are Friday evening, with the women's race at 6:30 and the men going at 7:15.
The pace steps up Saturday, May 14 as the decathlon and heptathlon competitions resume at 10 a.m. and conclude during the afternoon.
Field event finals start at 1 Saturday with the men's long jump, women's high jump, and the women's shot put - with Rew the defending champ who won All-America honors with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last summer.
Another round of field event finals Saturday begins at 3:30 with the women's long jump, the men's high jump, the men's shot put and the women's javelin, where NSU's Jessica Talley is the league leader and teammate Carie Lantrip is ranked fourth. The men's javelin competition starts at 6.
Qualifying heats in the running events begin at 3 Saturday afternoon with the 1500 meter run, followed by the 100/110 meter hurdles (3:30), the 400 (3:45), the 100 (4:05), the 800 (4:20), the 400 hurdles (4:50), the 200 (5:10 and the finals of the 3000 meter steeplechase at 5:40.
Sunday's slate begins with the women's triple jump finals at 11. The men's pole vault begins at 1 along with the women's hammer, where Lady Demon senior DeJon Griffin tops the conference standings. The men's triple jump starts at 1:30 and the men's hammer and women's pole vault begin at 3:30.
Opening ceremonies for the running competition are at 3 Sunday afternoon, followed with the exciting 4x100 relay finals at 3:05. A busy slate of running finals continues through to the concluding 4x400 relays at 5:30 for the women and 5:40 for the men.
Two of the top 10 decathletes in the country begin competition Friday morning at 11 -- Romain Martin of Texas-Arlington (second, 7867 points) and Matthew Johnson of Sam Houston (eighth, 7686 points). They resume Saturday morning at 10 with the final five events in the decathlon, which should wrap up with the 1500 meter run in the early afternoon.
The nation's fourth best hammer thrower, Chris Cralle (224-0) of Sam Houston, will be in action Sunday at 3:30.
Stephen F. Austin's Sam McCloud, the ninth-best 110-meter hurdler (13.61) will also be competing, running in a qualifying heat Saturday afternoon at 3:30 and likely advancing to Sunday's 3:40 p.m. final.
