Championship Central
JONESBORO, Ark. - The 2019 Sun Belt Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held at Arkansas State's Track and Field/Cross Country Complex, as the Red Wolves will host the three-day event starting on Friday, May 10 and continuing through Sunday, May 12.
Action begins on Friday with the first day of the decathlon at 9 a.m. CT and with the first day of the women’s heptathlon set to begin at 9:30 a.m. CT. The finals of the women’s hammer throw will start at 10 a.m. CT with finals also scheduled in the mean’s hammer throw (12:30 p.m. CT), women’s javelin (2 p.m. CT), men’s javelin (4:30 p.m. CT), women’s pole vault (4:30 p.m. CT), women’s 10,000-meter run (8 p.m. CT) and men’s 10,000-meter run (8:45 p.m. CT). Additionally, preliminaries for three running events start at 6:40 p.m. CT with the women’s 1500-meters.
Saturday’s action starts at 9 a.m. CT with the conclusion of the decathlon followed by the final day of the women’s heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. CT. Field events will begin at 12:30 p.m. CT with prelims in running events set to begin at 5:30 p.m. CT.
The final day of the three-day event will start at 11:30 a.m. CT with the finals in the men’s discus and concluding with the men’s 4x400-meter relay at approximately 7 p.m. CT. An awards ceremony for the presentation of the team trophy for both men and women will be presented following the relay.
A-State claimed the 2018 men's outdoor track and field titles, claiming the trophy with 159 points. Texas State won the women's team title for the second consecutive season with 139.5 points.
The UTA men will be looking to win the league’s Triple Crown as the Mavericks have claimed titles in both cross country and indoor track & field earlier this year. The Mavericks won the men’s Triple Crown during the 2016-17 season.
The Maverick men will also be looking to win their fourth Sun Belt outdoor track & field title in the last six years. UTA won both the 2014, 2015 and 2017 titles.
Individually, several student-athletes stand out amongst the rest of the field as a number of champions from last year's meet return in hopes of capturing the crown once again.
The women's 100- and 200-meter races will be hotly contested once again as A-State's Caitland Smith and Texas State's Tramesha Hardy will battle it out on the track. Smith enters the championship owning the top time in the 100-meters (11.25) while Hardy is second (11.46). The standings are reversed for the 200-meters, as Hardy owns the top time in the league at 22.72 seconds, which is the second-fastest time in league history. Smith ranks second at 23.27.
Hardy has claimed the previous two 200-meter titles.
The men's 800-meter race will be a good one again this year as three of the top five finishers from last year's Championship return this season. UTA's Erik Martinsson won the title last season and owns the top time this year at 1:47.81. His time is second fastest in league history. Joining Martinsson again this year is A-State's Heinrich Herbst, who was third last year, and ULM's Erik Hawkins, who finished fifth.
The men's pole vault will also provide some good competition as South Alabama's Sean Collins will be gunning for his fourth consecutive pole vault title. Collins and A-State's Michael Carr are ranked one-two in the Sun Belt and are separated by one centimeter (5.44m to 5.43m) in the standings. Both athletes have cleared 18' in their careers.
Collins claimed the title in 2018 and Carr was second. Appalachian State's Tristian Shaver and Louisiana's Kyle Baudoin check in at third and fourth, respectively, in the rankings and both finished in that same position at last year's Championship.
Texas State's T'Mond Johnson is seeking his third consecutive men's shot put title. He owns a league-best toss of 63'9". Johnson also has the top mark in the discus (176'5").
The women's 1,500-meters will have three of the top five finishers back in 2019. Angela Alonso of Georgia State was the runner-up last year but returns and holds the top time heading into the Championship at 4:29.55. A-State's Anaelle Charles finished third last year and checks in this season with the fourth best time in the event. Texas State's Devina Schneider owns the third best time this season. Little Rock's Shanieke Watson took eighth in the event in 2018 but won the 3,000-meter steeplechase last year and also claimed the 800-meter indoor title in February.
One of the more compelling events this year could be the women's high jump. UTA's Alexus Henry is the reigning Outdoor Track and Field National Champion in the event, having cleared a career-best 6'1.5" last year at the national meet. This year Henry and USA's Emilie Berge are tied with the same mark (5'10.5") heading into the Championship. USA's Olivia Swan has cleared 5'10" this season to rank third in the standings.
Berge will also be looking to three-peat as an individual champion in the hepathlon. She heads to Jonesboro with a Sun Belt Outdoor Track and Field record in the event with 5,718 points, set at the Texas Relays, giving her both the Championship and Season overall records. She reset the Championship record last year.
The 2019 Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be broadcast on ESPN+. All three days of the Championship 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 Declan Murray will serve as the announcers for the Championships and DeltaTiming will provide live results.
ESPN+ links, live stat results and much more can be found on our championship central page – https://sunbeltsports.org/sports/2019/1/7/19-otf-champ.aspx.