HAMMOND, La. – Four members of the Southeastern Louisiana University track & field team are on their way to Jacksonville, Fla. to begin their quests for a national championship at the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championship East First Round which starts Wednesday at the Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida.
 
The 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championship East First Round runs through Saturday. All four days will be televised on ESPN+ with live results also available through Flash Results.
 
Day one of the East First Round will see the two members of the men's team who qualified both in action, Gabriel Lim and Donroy Brown. Lim opens Southeastern's performance when he takes part in the javelin throw at 2:30 p.m. EDT while Brown will participate in the shot put at 6 p.m. EDT to wrap up the day. Both will be looking to finish in the top 12 of their respective competition, which would qualify them for the National Championship Final next month.
 
Lim is coming off of a silver medal-winning performance in the javelin throw at the 2025 Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships where he hit a personal best mark of 64.84 meters (212'8"), the 33^rd best in the East Region which earned him a spot in Jacksonville.
 
Brown also won the silver at the SLC Outdoor Championships, doing so in the shot put. Even though he was already qualified for the East First Round, his best throw was still to come as he broke the Southeastern outdoor shot put school record at the Tucson Throws Elite Classic by uncorking a throw of 18.70 meters (61'4.25") in the event meant to serve as just a tune-up to the regional. That throw is the 23^rd best in the East Region heading into the First Round.
 
The two Lady Lions who qualified, Onyah Favour and Esther Nwanze, will have their day on Thursday. Favour will run in the 400-meter dash at 7:25 p.m. EDT while Nwanze will race in the 400-meter hurdles at 8:20 p.m. EDT. Both will be looking to finish in the top three of their heat to earn an automatic spot in Saturday's national quarterfinal race in their discipline. If they're outside the top-three in their heat, they can still advance on time as the top-six fastest times that didn't automatically qualify from their finishing position will move on as well. Should they advance to Saturday, the women's 400-meter dash quarterfinal will be at 6:50 p.m. EDT while the women's 400-meter hurdles quarterfinal will be at 7:25 p.m. EDT.
 
Favour is coming off of silver medal-winning performance in the 400-meter dash at the SLC Outdoor Championships, stopping the clock in 52.54 seconds in the Final. Her fastest time of the season came three weeks earlier at the LSU Alumni Gold when she crossed the line in 52.51 seconds, which stands as the 24^th-fastest time in the East Region heading into the start of the First Round.
 
Nwanze cruised to the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the SLC Outdoor Championships, beating the field by nearly 3.5 seconds as she crossed the line in 58.35 seconds to win her first SLC Championship in the discipline two weeks ago. Her fastest time of the season came at the LSU Alumni Gold where she stopped the clock in 57.77 seconds, the 23^rd-fastest time in the East Region this season. Nwanze is the holder of the SLU women's outdoor 400-meter hurdles record when she clocked a time of 57.52 seconds at the 2024 SLC Outdoor Championships. She advanced out of the opening race of the 400-meter hurdles to the national quarterfinal round at the 2024 NCAA East First Round.
 
In the field events, the top-12 finishers advance to the National Final while in the track events, the top three finishers from each heat and the next three fastest on time from the quarterfinal round advance to the semifinal. The Field Finals and the Track Semifinals and Finals take place at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which runs June 8-11 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. on the campus of the University of Oregon.
 
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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