HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University track and field team makes the trip over to Houston for the 2024 Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which runs Thursday through Saturday at the Wendel D. Ley Track & Holloway Field on the campus of Rice University.
 
The 2024 Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be live streamed on ESPN+ with live results through MileSplit.live.
 
While the goal is to win conference championships over the next three days in Houston, the second objective of the trip is to move into the top-48 in the East Region on the Division I performance lists to earn a trip to Lexington, Ky. in two weeks for the NCAA Division I East Regional Championships.
 
Esther Nwanze leads the charge for the Lady Lions of the track, looking for medals in up to four different events. She holds the second-best time in the conference this season in the 400-meter hurdles heading into the championships while also having the fifth-best time in the 400-meter dash. She will also play in as a member of the Southeastern relay teams, the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays. She represents the only Lady Lion who enters the weekend in position to qualify for the regional, currently sitting with the 27^th-fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles, which is also less than a second off from the SLU school record.
 
Other Lady Lions entering the SLC Championships with top-10 standings on the conference performance list, who could make a run at a medal, include Immaculate Danial, who has the ninth-fastest time in the 100-meter dash, Onyah Favour, who is right behind Nwanze in sixth in the 400-meter dash, Ava Pitarro, who sits ninth in the 5,000-meter run, and the 4x400-meter relay team of Nwanze, Favour, Miriam Kauer, and Porsha Miles, who have the fourth-fastest time in the SLC.
 
On the field, the Lady Lions will be looking for medal from Lara Zupanc in the pole vault, as she currently sits fourth on the SLC performance list, and Anna Ferrand in the javelin throw, who currently sits 10^th with Bailey Babin right behind her.
 
On the men's side, four Lions are already in position to immediately qualify for the East Regional Championship, and will be looking to better their positioning for a trip to Lexington over the weekend. That group is led by Slavko Stevic, who currently holds the highest high jump in the Southland which is the fifth-highest in the East Region and 13^th-highest in all of Division I. Terrell Webb also has a solid mark for a spot at the East Regional Meet, currently holding the 21^st-longest hammer throw in the region, which also happens to lead the Southland by almost six meters over his own teammate, Gerrit Visser, who sits second in the conference standings. Also leading the conference heading into the Championships is Lance Hamilton in the triple jump, whose best jump this season has him sitting 25^th in the regional standings, also well within the mark to qualify for Lexington. The last Lions currently holding a spot in the Regional is Gabriel Lim, who heads into the SLC Championships with the third-longest javelin throw in the conference and 46^th in the East Region.
 
Numerous other Lions enter the Southland Championships in the top-10 in the conference in their disciplines and are looking to take home medals. On the track, it starts with Javon-Taye Williams in the 400-meter dash, who currently has the fifth-best time. Tim Anstett has the conference's sixth-fastest time in the 800-meter run. The Lions 4x400-meter relay team of Williams, Monte Parker, Victory Achakpoekri, and Olu Ogunyemi currently sits fifth in the conference.
 
In the field, Donald Butler joins Stevic in the hunt for a high jump podium spot, currently holding the sixth-best high jump in the SLC. Stan Hamilton will look to improve his standing in the pole vault, currently holding the 10^th-best clearance in the discipline. In the shot put, Donroy Brown enters the weekend currently sitting in fifth in the conference and is looking to throw his way to a medal. Webb may have his sights set on the hammer throw, but he could be looking at a double if he can improve his slot in the discus throw, where he currently sits seventh in the SLC with Micah Miller not far behind in ninth, rounding out the top potential medalists for the Lions this weekend.
 
The 2024 Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships start on Thursday at noon with the decathlon and heptathlon as well as the women's hammer throw kicking things off. Thursday's track competitions start at 7:15 p.m. with the 1,500-meter runs. On Friday, the festivities begin with the completion of the two multis at 11 a.m. while the individual field events start at 3 p.m. with the shot put and the track events starting at 6:45 p.m. with the women's 100-meter hurdles. The last day of the SLC Championships starts at noon with the women's discus opening things up on Saturday while track events begin at 5:35 p.m. with the 4x100-meter relays.
 
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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