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 Photo Credit: Gary HardamonSamuel Norton will compete at home one more time |
Field events begin at 1 and running at 3 at the Walter Ledet Track Complex, which features a Mondo Super X Surface track oval that has produced sizzling times in running events and quality field event performances in the previous five collegiate meets hosted since its installation last winter.
Athletes will try to post qualifying marks for NCAA regional meets in two weeks and for the USA Championships in late June, which this year will be the USA Olympic Trials.
“We have a fast track. We’ll have a warm day and good conditions, so it’s going to be exciting to see what might happen for the athletes who can take advantage,” said veteran NSU head men’s coach Leon Johnson.
Joining entries from Northwestern will be competitors from Grambling, Southern, Southeastern Louisiana, Sam Houston State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe.
Among the unattached athletes expected are two who could seriously contend for spots on the USA Olympic Team. Former Lady Demon All-American Samantha Ford will try to improve her USA Olympic Trials qualifying status. The Shreveport resident and Moss Bluff native already has thrown over 170 feet this spring before she began any serious training regimen.
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| 2003 NCAA All-American Samantha Ford |
Russ Buller, the 2006 USA pole vault champion who won the 2000 NCAA title for LSU, will compete for Club Asics. He has a 19-0 3/4 career best and was fifth in the 2006 World Cup. Buller is a Westlake native.
Some of the collegiate athletes will try to enhance their regional standing, while others will hope to surpass the NCAA standard in their events to net a regional invitation.
Bidding for qualifying marks from Northwestern will be the Demons’ 4x400 meter relay team, the Lady Demons’ 4x100 relay, Daniel Yarbrough in the men’s hammer, Charles Jackson in the 100 meter dash, Trecey Rew in the women’s discus and Kennis Byars in the men’s high jump. Rew, who won the Southland Conference discus title last week, is already qualified in the women’s shot put.
Making their final Ledet Complex appearances for NSU will be seniors Sam Norton in the javelin and Dawn Comeaux in the women’s javelin along with Alison Holmes and Mindy Toney in the women’s throws, and Chad Leath in the men’s 4x400. Leath and Comeaux already have regional qualifing marks, with Leath set in the 110 and 400 meter hurdles but hoping to help the Demons’ relay team earn its trip, while Comeaux is looking to improve her regional status.