JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Southeastern Louisiana senior sprinter Sharrona Williams did not appear nervous following practice on Monday, one day before leaving for one of the biggest meets of her collegiate career.
   
    Williams is scheduled to make her first appearance at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field East Preliminaries on Thursday, competing in the first round of the 100 meters. She will be joined by sophomore pole vaulter Devin King, senior high jumper Clarence Robinson, junior thrower Nicole Delesdernier and senior thrower Jermisha Frazier at the meet scheduled to run through Saturday at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium.
   
    "I'm not really nervous, but really I'm excited," Williams said. "It's my first time, but I know there are great things in store so I'm just prepared. Right now I'm just focused on improving my time and making the next round. That's my main focus."
   
    Southeastern head coach Sean Brady said Williams' mindset going into her first regional demonstrates how far the program has come over the past decade.
   
    "Eight, 10 years ago, we brought kids to this meet and they were just overwhelmed and consumed," said Brady, who helped his athletes prepare for the postseason by scheduling meets such as the Texas Relays, the Alabama Relays and the LSU Alumni Gold. "They were just happy to be there and were spectators. Our athletes now have seen that. We've put our kids in the best position possible so that they don't get overwhelmed or intimated when they go out on the track. They have seen these people, they know these people, they have raced these people, so it breeds an air of confidence having been in big-meet competitions. This is the biggest one they've seen this season in level of talent but I think we're ready and prepared and I'm excited to see how our young men and women are going to respond."
   
    The top 12 finishers in each event at the East Preliminaries will qualify for the National Championships scheduled for June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon.
   
    Live results from the Preliminaries, provided by North Florida, will be available at www.LionSports.net.
   
    Williams, a native of West Moreland, Jamaica, is scheduled to run in the first round at approximately 5:30 p.m. Central Time on Thursday with the quarterfinals set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Williams made second-team All-Southland Conference this season with a time of 11.46 seconds at the conference championships, a mark that is just .02 off the school record. Williams is 21^st in the East going into the meet.
   
    "The key is just go in there focused, focused on what the coach and I have been working on in practice ­­- keeping my mental mind – and everything will be fine," Williams said. "I know there will be good competition because based on the times that I have seen the girls have been running. I know it will not be easy to get to the next round but I'm willing to do my best, stay focused and just push on to the next round. We have all been working hard. I've been working for quite a while and it's just time to deliver what I've been working on."
   
    Frazier, making her fourth trip, will be the most experienced Lion at the Preliminaries. The Kenner, Louisiana native will compete in the hammer throw and shot put for the second straight year after earning second-team All-Southland honors in both. She has the sixth-best hammer throw at 207-04, a mark she achieved at the John Mitchell Alabama Relays, and is 40^th in the shot put at 49-9.25, a mark she threw at the Southland Championships.
   
    Frazier placed 11^th in the hammer at the 2015 Preliminaries to qualify for the National Championships where she finished 17^th. She was also 24^th in the shot put in the preliminary round. She was 22^nd in the hammer in 2014 and 31^st in the javelin in 2013.
   
    The hammer throw is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday with the shot put scheduled for Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
   
    Delesdernier qualified for her first NCAA Preliminary in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 150 feet at the Sam Houston State Last Chance Meet. The New Orleans native comes in ranked 37^th in the East and will throw at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
   
    King, a first-team All-Southland Conference selection, is making his second visit to the East Preliminaries after finishing 18^th in 2015. The Kentwood, Louisiana native has the top pole vault in the nation going in at 18 feet, 8.25 inches, achieved at the Texas Relays, and is set to compete at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. He placed third in the event at the indoor national championships earlier this season.
   
    Robinson, a third-team All-Southland Conference selection, is going to the Preliminaries for the first time. The Morgan City, Louisiana native has the 36^th-best jump in the East region at 6-11.75, achieved at the McNeese Spring Time Classic. The high jump is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
   
    "Jermisha has been there, Devin's been there," Brady said of the Lions' experience heading into the meet. "I think he (King) has some unfinished business. As a freshman, he got into that meet and got real stressful and he didn't perform well, but he's not the same vaulter he was last year at this time. I'm anxious to see Clarence Robinson. He had the best practice he's had all year today (Monday). I know he's physically ready. Sharrona is getting healthy. Nicole has been having some good sessions as of late. 
   
    "We as a group are ready. It's going to be who can handle the stress of that competition. You have to be a little bit lucky too. When you go up against the best kids in the country, it brings out the best in you and you figure out a lot about yourself. All we're trying to do with our people is do what they can do – be at their best. Whatever happens after that, we are OK with it."
   
    Brady said this is perhaps the most challenging meet the athletes will compete in at a collegiate level, more so than even the national championships. The East Preliminaries include many of the top programs and conferences in the country, including the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big East.
   
    "It's a tough meet," Brady said. "This meet, for many, is more challenging, stressful than actually getting to the national finals. It's very competitive, it's very intense. It's a meet where you have to be absolutely ready to go from the beginning. If you run, jump, throw to what got you there, your season best, then you have a shot in getting through and advancing in most events."
   
    And it's a meet, Brady said, that can help grow a program like Southeastern.
   
    "It's great for schools like us who are small mid-majors to go in and have head-up competition against the best people in the country on the same track on the same day," Brady said. "You really see the best our country has to show and from every nation that is represented there. It's a fun meet and an intense meet and it's exciting just to have the opportunity to step on the track and see how good you can be."