HAMMOND, La. –Southeastern Louisiana University track & field team member Slavko Stevic will jump for a national championship on Friday when he takes part in the men's high jump competition at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championships at 7:30 p.m. in the Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin campus in Austin, Texas.
 
The 2023 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships are being streamed on ESPN+ with live results also available online.
 
"He's meant everything to the foundation of making our team a national level program." That's how SLU head track & field coach Michael Rheams describes Stevic as he prepares for some of the biggest jumps of his life in Austin on Friday.
 
Stevic has already jumped for one national championship this season, earning an 11^th place finish at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Championships back in March. That experience taught him there's very little room for error and every jump can have big consequences, a bit of a different beast from all other meets leading up to it.
 
"This meet is much different from the other meets because here every jump matters," said Stevic. "I need to have a clean card, which means I need to clear every height on the first attempt. Even one missed attempt can cost me two to three placement spots. [At other meets] the only goal is getting the highest jump, I was typically competing against myself where clean cards didn't matter, which can be hard. However, the first goal here is winning, followed by jumping high."
 
At the NCAA National Championship East First Round two weeks ago, Stevic only failed to put up a clean card at one height, using two jumps to clear the final height which would clinch him a spot in Austin.
 
He's also jumped higher than any Lion has ever jumped before in this discipline, having broken the Southeastern high jump record in both indoor and outdoor competition this season. His highest jump came on the field he practices on every day when he cleared 2.22 meters (7'3.25") at the Strawberry Relays back in April, a feat Coach Rheams said everyone saw coming. Having conquered the Southland Conference, he's won two straight conference championships in outdoor high jump and three straight in indoor high jump.
 
"It was huge," said Rheams on Stevic breaking the 30+ year old SLU records, "but it was never a question of 'if' but always a question of 'when'."
 
With the day of his first outdoor national championship jumps now looming, he believes he's ready to take the leap and become a national champion.
 
"I know what I'm capable of doing and achieving," said Stevic. "Coach [Rheams] and I had a perfect practice on Tuesday. I basically cleared the first three starting heights which would already put me in the top-15 if not the top eight on the day of the championship."
 
Rheams says Stevic's attention to detail shows he's ready for this big day.
 
"With the great precision and overcoming every obstacle, it has allowed him to be ready on the national level because of his hard work."
 
His teammates and Lions everywhere will be watching every jump he takes on Friday night.
 
[The Southeastern track & field team is] very excited when someone from the team represents the Lions at the national level," said Rheams.
 
And Stevic has a message to SLU fans everywhere who will be watching.
 
"Thank you so much for your support over the season. I appreciate it very much and Lion Up!"
 
PODIUM CLUB/S CLUB   
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the track and field program are encouraged to join the Podium Club. Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners. All membership fees and donations to Podium Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern track and field program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Track and Field, follow @LionUpTrack on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube. channel.