Men's Start Lists | Women's Start Lists
NEW ORLEANS - A total of 20 Sun Belt Conference outdoor track & field student-athletes will make their way to Eugene, Oregon for the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The meet, held at Historic Hayward Field, begins on June 6 and continues through June 9.
The multi-events will kick things off for the meet and will conclude with the running of the men and women's 4x400-meter relays.
Part of the Sun Belt contingent is record-setting Jaylen Bacon from Arkansas State. The senior heads into the championship as the only student-athlete competing in two individual events. Bacon will represent the Red Wolves in the 100- and 200-meter sprints.
Bacon's time in the 100 at the preliminaries last weekend was a blazing 9.97 - which is tied for the world lead in the event - and is the second fastest 100-meter time ever in the Sun Belt. Bacon had the seventh fastest time in the prelims in the 200-meters at 20.51.
Should Bacon lay claim to a national title in either event it would be the third individual title for a member of the A-State track & field team in the last five years as Sharike Nelvis won the women's 100-meter hurdle title in 2014 and the 60-meter hurdle title that same year.
Bacon's teammate, Elijah Ross joins him in the 100 while Little Rock's Charles Okeze will run against Bacon in the 200. Okeze will team up with Keshawn Andrews, Ch'kilas Calhoun and Travion Clark to compete in the men's 4x100-meter relay.
The Trojans posted the tenth best time at the prelims in the event (39.35), which ranks No. 4 all-time in the Sun Belt.
Texas State will have a team entered in the 4x100-meter relay as well. The foursome of Jaylen Allen, Carlos Wilson, Demarcus Porter and Lincoln Warren have the 24th best time in the field.
Fresh off his 800-meter title at the Sun Belt outdoor championship, UTA's Erik Martinsson hopes to fare well at the NCAA championship. Martinsson enters the meet with the 23rd best time in the 800.
The men's field events are represented well with South Alabama's Sean Collins looking for his first outdoor national title. The junior has qualified for the national meet in all three years as a Jaguar.
A-State freshman, Carter Shell, earned a spot amongst the top 24 in the long jump. He is one of three freshman in the event.
Itamar Levi of A-State and T'Mond Johnson of Texas State will go head-to-head in the men's shot put. Levi qualified with the 21st best mark and Johnson the 24th best.
Finally, Cristian Ravar Ladislau of A-State will compete in the men's hammer. He has the eighth best throw in the country and the second best all-time in the Sun Belt - set last week at the preliminaries.
On the women's side, only four individuals will see action.
A-State's Caitland Smith qualified in the 100-meters with a top 20 time. She was the individual champion in the 100 at the Sun Belt outdoor championship. Smith's time at the prelims ties the fifth best time in the Sun Belt.
UTA's Alexus Henry will compete in the women's high jump. She enters the championship with a personal best 1.87m (6'1.15") in the event and the all-time best in the Sun Belt.
A-State's Calea Carr qualified in the women's discus, her signature event, with a mark of 53.42m (175'3"). That mark is tops in the Sun Belt this season.
South Alabama's Emile Berge will get things started for the Sun Belt as she will be competing in the heptathlon in Eugene. Berge posted the highest point total in league history in 2018 (5,632) earning herself a trip to the national meet. She is a two-time Sun Belt heptathlon champion, winning both the 2017 and 2018 titles in the event.