HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University track and field team faces a final major test as a squad before the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships as it heads back to the Louisiana state capitol for the LSU Alumni Gold Saturday at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
 
Coming off of his third career Southland Conference Men's Field Athlete of the Week honor, Slavko Stevic is set to participate in the high jump on Saturday as he looks to tighten his grip even further on the top jump in the conference heading into the Conference Outdoor Championships. Donald Butler, who is also making strides in the high jump, is also set to be involved in the competition as well.
 
In the hammer throw, Southeastern will be looking to strengthen its hold on the top two positions on the Southland performance list as both Terrell Webb and Gerrit Visser are set to take part. Webb currently has the best throw in the hammer by a Southland thrower, being the only SLC competitor to clear both 60 and 65 meters in the discipline while Visser is second and just needs to improve his best throw by 0.21 meters, or just over eight inches, to join Webb in the 60-meter club for the season.
 
When it comes to jumping, the Hamilton Brothers look to continue making the mark in the conference. Lance Hamilton has the longest triple jump in the Southland heading into the weekend's action and both he and his brother Stan Hamilton are scheduled to participate in the triple jump Saturday at LSU.
 
Gabriel Lim, who took bronze in the discus throw in last week's Strawberry Relays, is set to return to his discipline of choice, the javelin throw, on Saturday. He currently holds the third-longest javelin throw in the conference as the season starts to wind down.
 
On the women's side, after several weeks of getting a chance to run without obstacles in her way, Esther Nwanze is set to return to her pursuit of the Southeastern 400-meter hurdles record. She currently holds the second-best time in the conference in that discipline, and needs to take a little more than a second off of her best time to break that 10-year-old mark, which also coincided with the last time a Lady Lion broke 1:00 in the discipline before Nwanze did so this year as she's gone sub-60 seconds twice this year.
 
Other marks to watch on the track include Javon-Taye Williams looking to move into a top-three position in the conference's 400-meter dash standings as the season heads to its conclusion, currently holding the conference's fourth-fastest time. He also will be looking to aid the SLU 4x400-meter relay team to a high seed. Ava Pitarro, holder of the conference's fourth-fastest 5,000-meter run time this outdoor season, will run on the 3,000-meter race on Saturday.
 
Performers to keep an eye on in the field competition as well include Lara Zupanc, who is coming off of a golden performance at the Strawberry Relays, looking to improve her current, fourth-place standing on the Southland's women's pole vault list. Donroy Brown will be trying to improve his standing in the shot put where he currently sits fifth in the Southland.
 
The LSU Alumni Gold meet kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium with the women's hammer throw competition starting the day off. The track events begin at 12:30 p.m. with the women's 4x100-meter relay. Live results of the meet will be available through the host institution.
 
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
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