NATCHITOCHES - Affordable tickets are available online in advance and at the gate next weekend for the 2011 Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Northwestern State at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex May 13-15.
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, with NSU's Mike Green leading the SLC men's rankings), 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.
