COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce track and field team serves as hosts of the Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Memorial Stadium this weekend.
 
MEET CENTRAL: https://www.southland.org/tournaments/?id=190&path=track
TICKETS: https://tamuc.hometownticketing.com/embed/event/224?access_code=24b37148469664dd24354ace7e20f37ebc44dd39
SCHEDULE: https://www.southland.org/documents/2023/4/13//2023_OTF_Schedule_Thu_Sat_.pdf
LIVE RESULTS: https://live.jwtimingllc.com/meets/21217
WATCH (US Only): https://www.espn.com/watch/catalog/01209caa-9a9a-4275-b784-c8cdff2fbd7c/southland-conference
WATCH (International): https://www.southland.org/watch
 
Since moving up to NCAA Division I and the Southland, this is the first time that the Lions are serving as hosts for a conference championship. It is the first time since that A&M-Commerce is the host site of a conference championship since the volleyball program hosted the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Tournament in 2019.
 
As the Lions are in the NCAA transition process, this is the final event of the season.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE LIONS
Thirteen A&M-Commerce student-athletes were victorious at the East Texas Quad last week. Both Delan Edwin (Castries, Saint Lucia) and Amaka Ezukanma (Fort Worth – Timber Creek) earned Southland Athlete of the Week honors.
 
A LOOK AT THE SOUTHLAND
UIW is the defending men's champion and McNeese is the defending women's champion in the outdoor meet. During the indoor season in 2023, UIW was the winner on the men's side and Northwestern State was the winner on the women's side.
 
THE LION MEN
The Lions are 1-2 in the 100 meter dash with J.T. Smith (Klein Oak) leading the way and Edwin is second. In the 200 meter dash, Edwin is first in the conference and Smith is second. Cameron Macon (Dallas – Carter) is seventh in the 100 meter hurdles.
 
Nicholas Deutsch (Frisco) ranks fourth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:38.14, while Chris Navarette (Laredo – Lyndon B. Johnson) ranks eighth with a time of 10:23.62.
 
The 4x100 meter relay team of Ibrahim Fuseini (Accra, Ghana), Smith, Edwin, and Macon are third and the 4x400 meter relay team of Eddie Barrientes (Chisholm Trail), Philip Krenek (Kostelní Strimelice, Czech Republic), Conner Stockerl (The Woodlands), and Edwin is third as well.
 
In the field events, Tyke Owens (Lebanon Trail) ranks seventh with a season-best mark of 6 feet 5.5 inches (1.97m) in the high jump. Nikita Strogalev (Kiev, Ukraine) is the conference leader in the pole vault with a mark of 16 feet 2.5 inches (4.94m).
 
Chandler King (Hughes Springs) is sixth in the long jump with a mark of 24 feet 1.75 inches (7.36m), while in the triple jump, Trayveon Franklin (Montgomery) is third with a mark of 49 feet 3.75 inches (15.03m). Trey Wheeler (Scurry-Rosser) is anticipated to compete in the decathlon.
 
THE LION WOMEN
Leah Pettis (McKinney North) is second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.61 seconds, while Sofia Khenfar (Lyon, France) is eighth with a time of 11.89 seconds. Mariana Shostak (Lviv, Ukraine) is third in the 400 meter dash with a time of 53.81 seconds and Naomi Ndukwe (Perserville, France) is sixth with a time of 55.22 seconds.
 
Ndukwe is the conference leader in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 59.92 seconds and Maia Maury (Noisy-Le-Grand, France) is fourth with a time of 1:01.24. The 4x100 meter relay team of Pettis, Ashley Benton (Waxahachie Life), Khenfar, and Shostak is eighth, while Ndukwe, Khenfar, Shostak, and Francesca Aquilino (Milan, Italy) rank second in the 4x400 meter relay.
 
The Lions have three of the top seven student-athletes in the women's high jump. Veronika Kramarenko (Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine) is second with a mark of 5 feet 8.75 inches (1.75m), Jenneil Jacobie (Piat Gros Islet, Saint Lucia) is tied for third with a mark of 5 feet 6 inches (1.68m), and Maury is seventh with a mark of 5 feet 5 inches (1.63m).
 
Ezukanma leads the conference in the triple jump with a mark of 41 feet 5.25 inches (12.63m), while Dejah Fuller (Waxahachie Life) is seventh with a mark of 39 feet 0.25 inches (11.89m). Tamara Susa (Novi Sad, Serbia) ranks first in the javelin with a mark of 157 feet 8 inches (48.05m).
 
Elizabeth Ortiz (Palacios) is among the eight competitors in the heptathlon. Her score of 4,529 points earlier this season is second.