Women's Track and Field | 05.22.2019
GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Lewis-Clark State track and field team is set and ready for the 2019 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. Competition begins Thursday for the Warriors. LC is sending 14 student-athletes to the biggest meet of the year.
"I think we've got some opportunities across the board," coach Mike Collins said. "I think everyone that we have here has a shot at getting to the finals of their respective events and performing really well. As a whole, I think this is the most well-rounded group that we are taking."
The Women
Eleven Warrior women qualified and are making the journey to Alabama for a shot at a title. Jenny Sapp will start the weekend with the 400m hurdles trials, an event in which she is ranked 11th (1:02.23), with a goal of running in the final on Saturday. She will also be a key component of the 4x400m relay.
The 4x800m relay will race on Thursday for a spot in the finals on Friday. The 4x400m relay team races in their prelim Friday night for a spot in Saturday's final.
"The relays are fun," Collins said. "We are tied for fifth in the rankings in the 4x400m relay, but I think we can be better than that. We have girls that we believe can run even better."
"The 4x800m relay team is a group of four freshman, so that will make it interesting," Collins said. "They handled it well at Indoors, and here at Outdoors it will be fun to see if we can get to the final."
Madi Carson will be the first Warrior in the field when she competes in the pole vault on Thursday afternoon. She was the National Runner-Up in the event at the Indoor Championships and is seeded fourth in the outdoor version of the event.
Jazzmin Bryan will compete in the 400m dash prelims on Friday ahead of the final on Saturday. Delaney Warren will wrap up field events for the Warriors in the discus throw on Saturday.
The Men
Owen Lanning will get the Warriors going on the men's side. The senior is ranked 11th heading into the decathlon and will begin the first half of the event on Thursday.
Cole Olsen will wrap up the first day of competition with the 10,000m run. He is seeded 14th in the event with a time of 31:28.80.
Lanning will complete the decathlon on Friday, leaving Saturday to Jonny Handel. The senior will run in the marathon as the second seed.
"Jonny is doing one of the toughest events you can do," Collins said. "But he knows what is going on, his training has gone really well and we've had periodic talks about some of the things that can go on psychologically."
