NATCHITOCHES -- Two-time USA Olympic triple jumper Kenta Bell, the Northwestern State alumnus who is trying to defy the odds and make a third appearance in the Olympic Games this summer in London, will compete Friday at The Leon Johnson NSU Invitational track and field meet at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex.
 
Bell competed in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. He was the 2010 USA Outdoor champion in his specialty, and also won the 2003 USA Outdoor title. He was runner-up at the 2008 Olympic Trials and at the 2005 and 2006 USA Outdoors and the 2006 USA Indoor Championships.
 
The 2000 graduate of Northwestern State will be training in Natchitoches with his longtime mentor, Johnson's son Dean, for a couple of weeks. He based the trip to participate in the first NSU Track and Field Alumni Reunion in conjunction with Friday's home meet,  The Leon Johnson NSU Invitational.  The long jump begins at 10 Friday morning and the triple jump starts at 1.
 
All men and women who have competed or worked with the NSU track and field program are invited to the reunion Thursday evening and Friday. The event includes a tailgating party and social on Thursday afternoon before the Joe Delaney Bowl spring football game at 6 in Turpin Stadium, and The Leon Johnson NSU Invitational meet on Good Friday.
 
There is no charge to attend the reunion and families are welcome. Athletes, coaches, trainers and other staff members from all eras of track and field are invited, according to Lady Demon pole vault record holder Haley Blount, the associate director of alumni affairs for NSU.
 
The reunion begins at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon with a tailgating party at the Collins Pavilion in the Demon Commons area, formerly the NSU football practice field in the center of the athletic complex. The annual Joe Delaney Bowl spring football game kicks at 6 in Turpin Stadium, with halftime recognition of all track alumni and a special spotlight on the Demons' 2002 Southland Conference championship teams, and alumni training for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
 
Friday's activities are based around the second annual The Leon Johnson NSU Invitational, named in tribute to the legendary and still active coach. Field events begin at 10 a.m. with ceremonies at 1:30 and running starting at 2 at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex. Tickets will be on sale at the gate for the public.
 
Reservations for the reunion are encouraged and can be made online at the northwesternalumni.com website. For more information, contact Blount at blounth@nsula.edu via e-mail or by calling 318-357-4415.
 
Bell has been ranked as one of America's top ten triple jumpers in each of the past nine years by Track & Field News. In his final collegiate season in 2000, Bell broke the Southland Conference indoor triple jump record and won the long jump to score 20 points at the conference championships. He is the Southland Conference's second-best all-time indoor triple jumper following only 1984 Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner of Arkansas State.