Track had an exciting weekend down in Texas as the squad competed in the infamous 95th Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. Traveling with only 11 athletes, the Green and Gold kicked off the competition on Thursday, March 30. 

Head Coach Michael Rheams said, “This meet is the greatest meet that promotes track and field as a whole. This is when normal people come out to celebrate our craft, traveling from all over the nation to see the worlds and colleges best gather at one event, under one stadium, under the lights to celebrate just how great and how hard track and field is.”

On the track, 400m hurdlers Indya Jackson and Esther Nwanze battled against the clock in the prelims sections. Nwanze went on to win her heat with a new personal best of 1:03.16. Carrying on to the men’s 400m hurdles time finals, Omri Shiff tallied a second-place heat finish and freshman Agerian Jackson had an incomplete run. 

The competition continued Friday starting off the day over at the high jump pit. Sophomore Katerine Olsen attempted a personal best of 1.70 but each of her three attempts was unsuccessful as the bar came down each time.

Competing with the best of the best, the Lions held their ground as high jumper Slavko Stevic flew through the start heights, clearing the bar at 2.00m, 2.05m, 2.10m and 2.14m with his first attempt. His run came to a close when Stevic just fell short of tying the school record to secure his silver finish for group B with a height of 2.17m. 

Stevic’s performance earned him the title of Southland Conference Field Athlete of the Week. 

“I feel Texas Relays underestimated me for putting me into the B Group, even though two years ago I was in the A Group. The athletes were in my league and I could have scored even better if I competed against them, because they would have motivated me more. Since I was in the B group I was just competing against myself,” Stevic said. 

The Lions also competed in the men’s 110-meter hurdle timed final with junior Olu Ogunyemi and sophomore Cole Palmer. Ogunyemi went on to set a new personal best of 14.40 seconds, wind-aided. 

Returning for the men’s 4×400-meter relay Jackson and Shiff along with Jaimie Omalla and Eugene Omalla competed Friday afternoon in the prelims, falling just shy of qualifying for Saturday’s final. Freshman Cohen Gallant ran the men’s 100-meter dash timed final, crossing the line in 10.74 seconds.  

“I think athletes perform very well and this was a great learning opportunity to take us to the next level and return to nationals,” Rheams added. 

The Lions trip came to a close Saturday afternoon as graduate student Kristian Jackson competed in the women’s discus. Jackson threw a fifth-place finish with a throw of 51.08m. 

After a week-long trip, the Lions returned home to recover and rest. The season will continue on March 8 as they travel to Baton Rouge for the Pelican Relays, hosted by Southern University, at Roscoe Moore Stadium. 

“We’re going to use the rest of this month to prepare ourselves for nationals. We’re going to try to get as many qualifying marks by April 22 and go and win the conference,” Rheams said. 

To follow along with the Green and Gold track and field, check out lionsport.net for more information.