NEW ORLEANS - The 2021 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships are set for May 13-15 and will be hosted by South Alabama at the Jaguar Track Complex in Mobile, AL. The three-day event will begin Thursday at 9 a.m. CT and finish on Saturday evening as the Texas State men's team, and Arkansas State women's squad look to defend their 2019 Championship titles. 

The 2020 OTF Championships were canceled due to COVID-19.

In 2019, the A-State women claimed their first outdoor conference title since the 2015 season with 155 points. Texas State women were runners-up with 128, while South Alabama took home third place with 127.

The Bobcats won the men's title for the first time as a member of the Sun Belt in 2019 with 122.5 points, edging the Red Wolves (117) and the UTA Mavericks (109). 

The 2021 Championships will start on Thursday (all times listed are Central Time) with the men's decathlon at 9 a.m., followed by the women's heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. The women's hammer throw will start at noon, and the men's hammer throw will follow at 2:30 p.m.

Day 1 will also include the women's javelin (3 p.m.), men's javelin (5:30 p.m.), women's pole vault (5:30 p.m.), and the women's 10,000 meters (8:30 p.m.). The men's 10,000 meters is set for 9:15 p.m. for the final competition for the day.  

UTA's Arthur Peterson enters the meet with a league-best 77.75m ( 255' 1") javelin throw. Louisiana's Claire Meyer leads the women's javelin with a 53.34m (175' 0") mark. South Alabama freshman Kyle Rademeyer has his sights set on his third outdoor pole vault title as he owns a conference-best 5.40m (17' 8.5") jump. A-State's Lauren Beauchamp looks to claim her second outdoor pole vault title as she enters the championship meet with a league-best 4.08m (13' 4.5") mark.

Thursday's preliminary races will include the women's 1500m run (7:10 p.m.), men's 1500m run (7:20 p.m.), women's 400-meter hurdles (7:40 p.m.), and men's 400-meter hurdles (7:55 p.m.). The women's 200 meter-dash will start at 8:10 p.m., and the men's 200 meter-dash will follow at 8:15 p.m.

Friday's competition will start with finals of the men's decathlon (9 a.m.) followed by the women's heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. Finals in field events will begin at 12:30 p.m. with the women's long jump. Field event finals will continue with the women's shot put (2 p.m.), women's high jump (2 p.m.), men's long jump (3 p.m.) and will conclude with the men's shot put at 5 p.m.

South Alabama's Rickssen Opont and Autavia Fluker both lead the league in the shot put. Opont registered an 18.84m (61' 0.75") throw at the Auburn Tiger Track Classic, and Fluker claimed a 16.00 (52' 6") mark at the USA Invitational. Fluker, a Bessemer, Ala. native, has earned Sun Belt Weekly accolades three times this season.

A-State's Carter Shell currently sits in the top spot in the long jump with a mark of 7.96 (26' 1.5"). Georgia State's Jaeda Hunt owns the No. 1 spot in the women's long jump with a jump of 6.14m (20' 1.75"). Louisiana's John Joseph will enter the championship meet with a conference-best 15.44 triple jump (50' 8"), and the Red Wolves Imani Udoumana will enter the meet leading the women with a 12.86m (42' 2.25") mark.

Friday evening's preliminary running events will begin with the women's 100m hurdles at 5 p.m., followed by the men's 110m hurdles at 5:15 p.m. Running events will continue with the women's 400m (5:30 p.m.), men's 400m (5:45 p.m.), women's 100m (6 p.m.), and the men's 100m (6:15 p.m.).

Running events will conclude with two mid-distance preliminary races, including the women's 800m (6:30 p.m.) and men's 800m (6:45 p.m.) and two finals events featuring the women's 3k steeplechase (7 p.m.) and the men's 3k steeplechase (7:25 p.m.).

Championship Saturday will feature the rest of the field events beginning at 11:30 a.m. The women's 4x100 meter relay will be the first of the running events starting at 4 p.m. The final event will start at 7 p.m. (men's 4x400 relay), and the award ceremony will follow that event.

Heading into the Outdoor Track and Field Championships, A-State's Seth Waters and Pauline Meyers sit atop the league in the 1500m. Waters recorded a 3:44:42 in the Maroon & White Invitational while Meyer posted a 4:26.22 at the ASU Red Wolf Open. Meyer also owns a league-best 16:35.13 time in the 500m. 

Texas State's Pedro Osorio Lopez holds a league-best 1:48.38 time in the 800m edging A-State's Seth Waters (1:50.65) and Bennett Pascoe (1:51.73). Troy's Gemma Finch (2:05.29) and Edita Sklenska (2:06.94) hold the top two spots in the women's 800m, heading into the championships. 

The 2021 Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be broadcast on ESPN+. All three days of the Championships will be shown live, starting with the running events each day. Field events will be recapped during the live broadcast each evening.

Drew Fellios and Damu Cherry-Mitchell will serve as the announcers for the Championships and Half Mile Timing Will provide live results. 
ESPN+ links and live stat results are available on the Sun Belt Championship Central Page.

Follow #SunBeltOTF on social media via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Outdoor Track & Field: Men's Track Athlete of the Week
Week 1 – Spencer Cardinal, Little Rock (Fr., The Woodlands, Texas)
Week 2 – Justin Domangue, UTA (Sr., Alvarado, Texas)
Week 3 – Justin Domangue, UTA (Sr., Alvarado, Texas)
Week 4 – Lexington Hilton, Arkansas State (So., Green Forest, Ark.)
Week 5 – Bennett Pascoe, Arkansas State (Jr., Conway, Ark.)
Week 6 – Bennett Pascoe, Arkansas State (Jr., Conway, Ark.)
Week 7 – Seth Waters, Arkansas State (Jr., Harrison, Ark.)

 
Outdoor Track & Field: Men's Field Athlete of the Week
Week 1 – Arthur Petersen, UTA (Fr., Hellerup, Denmark)
Week 2 – Francois Prinsloo, South Alabama (Fr., Worcester, South Africa)
Week 3 – Michael Alvernaz, Troy (Sr., Barrington, R.I.)
Week 4 – Carter Shell, Arkansas State (Sr., Orlando, Fla.)
Week 5 – Frank Massey, Arkansas State (So., Chicago Heights, Ill.)
Week 6 – Aimar Palma Simo, Arkansas State (Fr., Castellon, Spain)
Week 7 – Francois Prinsloo, South Alabama (Fr., Worcester, South Africa)

Outdoor Track & Field: Women's Track Athlete of the Week
Week 1 – Ka'Neisha Jackson, Little Rock (Jr., Elk City, Okla.)
Week 2 – Carolien Millenaar, South Alabama (Sr., Sorvad, Denmark)
Week 3 – Gemma Finch, Troy (Sr., Newbury, U.K)
Week 4 – Melissa Jefferson, Coastal Carolina (So., Georgetown, S.C.)
Week 5 – Pauline Meyer, Arkansas State (Jr., Gronau-Epe, Germany)
Week 6 – Pauline Meyer, Arkansas State (Jr., Gronau-Epe, Germany)
Week 7 – Kiana Foster, Louisiana (Fr., Amite, La.)
 
Outdoor Track & Field: Women's Field Athlete of the Week 
Week 1 – Autavia Fluker, South Alabama (Sr., Bessemer, Ala.)
Week 2 – Claire Meyers, Louisiana (Sr., Maurice, La.)
Week 3 – Babette Vandeput, Arkansas State (Sr., Genk, Belgium)
Week 4 – Autavia Fluker, University of South Alabama (Sr., Bessemer, Ala.)
Week 5 – Maya Hanks, App State (Jr., Yorktown, Va.)
Week 6 – Naomi Ferdinand, Texas State (Sr., Houston, Texas)
Week 7 – Autavia Fluker, South Alabama (Sr., Bessemer, Ala.)

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