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Track & Field 3/20/2009 2:24:29 PM

Lions Look Forward to ULL Meet

Southeastern track returns to action at Lafayette

Junior distance runner Kalphys Kemboi will make his 2009 debut on Saturday

HAMMOND - After battling difficult conditions at the McNeese State Cowboy Relays in their first meet of the outdoor season, the Southeastern Louisiana University men's and women's track and field teams are looking forward to this weekend's trip to UL-Lafayette for the Louisiana Classics on Saturday.

The Lions and Lady Lions faced rainy and windy weather in their first meet of the season, but still managed to post some impressive performances, including junior thrower Adonson Shallow's school record-setting and NCAA Mideast Regional Qaulifying toss in the hammer throw.

"Our kids should have a much better experience at this meet," head coach Sean Brady said. "The conditions should be favorable, which is great news for everyone. The field will be about twice as big as last week, which means the competition is going to be a lot tougher. But, we've been working our kids pretty hard heading into this meet, so we should be ready."

The Lions and Lady Lions will look to try to give Shallow some company as Southeaster looks to qualify some additional student athletes for the NCAA Regionals.

On the men's side, 2007 Southland Conference Freshman and Male Athlete of the Year Kalphys Kemboi will make his season debut. The junior distance runner will look to pick up where he left off last season when he posted strong showings in the 5,000 m run, 10,000 m run and 3,000 m steeplechase.

The Lady Lions will be lead by the pole vaulting tandem of junior Aqueelah El-Amin and freshman Lacey Sanchez who are coming off school-record performances in the indoor pole vault.

However, the main goal for Southeastern remains the same for all their early season meets.

"We want to compete as well as we are able," Brady said. "But, what's more important for us is that our kids are working on what we are asking them to work on in practice. Usually, we'll give our kids a break the day before the meet, but that's not the case during the first few weeks of the outdoor season. We want them working hard in practice and executing what we're asking them to do in meets, so they're not getting any time off for this meet. Hopefully, this will help them build up their endurance so that they start peaking for the conference meet in May (May 8-10)."

Following the Louisiana Classics, the Lions and Lady Lions will prepare for the Tiger Relays in Baton Rouge May 27-28.

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