Southland Indoor Meet Begins Wednesday
2/25/2014 8:37:00 AM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
The Sam Houston State men's and women's track and field teams are ready for competition in the Southland Conference Indoor Championships at the nationally-recognized Birmingham CrossPlex on Wednesday and Thursday.
“When you get to the conference championship like this you feel relief but it's also kind of agony,” head coach David Self said. “We've done all this preparation and been working hard since August as a track team and you get to the day and you're absolutely helpless.”
The Bearkats enter the championships after a fast-paced indoor schedule that saw the squad compete in five meets over the course of seven weekends.
“We've met as a group and we feel strongly after our five competitions that we're as good as this group can be,” Self said. “We've got a few nagging injuries but no major stuff. We really as a staff feel like these are two of the best teams the school's ever fielded going into it.”
The heptathlon/pentathlon will kick off the meet at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday followed by the field events at 1 p.m. and the running events at 3 p.m. On Thursday, championships will kick off at 8:30 a.m. beginning with the heptathlon category.
The championships will mark the Kats second trip to the CrossPlex this season which assists in adding a sense of familiarity to the 12 hour bus trek across four states.
“I'd guess probably half the league has not been here so there were a lot of questions about, 'what do they do for this' and 'what do they do for that' but those of us who have been here we know,” Self said. “Being here and getting the lay of the land and knowing what the set-up is and knowing what to expect will be a great asset for us.”
During their previous stop at the CrossPlex for the Samford Invitational, the Bearkats captured 16 top five finishes and shortly after senior Charles White was named the Southland Conference Men's Field Athlete of the Week while senior Sabrina Starr was awarded the Women's Track Athlete of the Week.
Sam Houston is in search of its first Southland Conference team title since the women last captured both the indoor at outdoor titles in 2008. Including Cross Country, the Kats finished runner-up in four of six seasonal sports last year.
“That's one of the things that I do is I take one of the championship rings off that we won in 2008 and I tell them, 'it's been six years since we've won one,'” Self said. “We're due.”
With several Bearkats holding top times in the Southland in their specialties including Matthew Viverette, Sabrina Starr, Rodney Jones, Katelyn Wynn, Ana Morena, Lauren Nwegbo and Charles White, Sam Houston is ready to get the action started.
