AUSTIN, Texas – The New Orleans track & field program will have five standout student-athletes travel to Austin for the prestigious 93rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays that runs Thursday, March 25 through Saturday, March 27 at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
The three-day competition will be covered by the Longhorn Network which will broadcast extensive coverage of the meet (more information when it becomes available will be posted on UNOPrivateers.com).
Live results of the meet can be found here and
updates will be posted throughout the weekend on Twitter.com/PrivateersTFXC.
"I am super excited to be going back to the Texas Relays," director of track & field
Brian Johnson said. "We are bringing a few student-athletes who can potentially make it to regionals. We are looking forward to competing in some warm weather as well. I know that we can run fast at this meet and will compete with some of the best in the country."
SHANNON DOUBLES IN THE 100 AND 200
Shamarah Shannon has really hit her stride this year as she carries over her strong indoor season into the outdoor campaign.
Shannon scored 19 points at the 2021 Southland Conference Indoor Championships with a silver medal in the 200m dash, a sixth-place showing in the 60m and a leg in the Privateers second-place DMR squad.
She made her official outdoor debut for New Orleans this past weekend at the Louisiana Classics where she claimed fourth in the 400m with a time of 58.63. The mark sits 12th in the conference as she stretched out over a longer distance.
The Miami, Fla. native returns to shorter sprints as Shannon will run in both the 100m and 200m dashes at the Texas Relays. The women's 200m prelims will toe the line on Thursday, March 25 at 6 PM CT. The preliminary round of the 100m is set for Friday, March 26 at approximately 2:20 PM.
The 100m finals will take place on Saturday, March 27 at 2:15 PM while the 200 finals take off at approximately 3:55 PM.
KLESHUKOVA GOES FOR THE 10,000 CROWN
The quest to find distance star
Arina Kleshchukova a 10,000m has ended as she will take on a strong field in the event on Thursday, March 25 at 9:15 PM CT.
It is the first time that Kleshchukova will run a 10,000 as a collegiate as she made her much anticipated outdoor debut at this past weekend's Louisiana Classic.
There she ran to a second-place finish in the 1500m with a time of 4:34.98. The mark ranks second in the conference and 58th in all of NCAA DI. The performance was also the sixth-best time ever ran in the event in UNO history.
Kleshchukova will be shooting for a qualifying time for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round. There are currently only five student-athletes ranked on the performance list in the East region with the top-time belonging to Jamie Connelly of USC Upstate at 38:20.92. A mark below 38:57.88 will rank Kleshchukova in the top-five in program history.
The 14-women field at the Texas Relays includes three other Southland student-athletes, a battle tested Hiley Dobbs from Neveda (34:33.91 PR), Maggie McPherson from Eastern Illinois and student-athletes from Rice, Baylor, Central Michigan and Texas, among others. Texas's Madeline Vondra placed third in the 5000 and fifth in the 3000 at the Big 12 Indoor Championships and Grace Rorbes from Rice finished 19th overall at the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships.
There are also two interesting unattached runners on the start line in Katie Rodden (formerly of Penn State) and Nicholls head coach Stefanie Slekis (Syracuse).
KONE GOES IN BOTH 100 AND 200
Ismael Kone is another Privateer who has really broken onto the Southland scene this year. He will double up and give it a go in both the 100m and 200m dashes at the Texas Relays.
At the 2021 conference indoor championships, Kone placed second in the 60m dash, as he showed off his top-end speed. That momentum has carried into outdoors as he has posted season-best times of 10.58 (100m) and 21.59 (200m), respectively. The marks rank seventh in the 100 and ninth in the 200 in the conference.
On the national level, his 100 time is currently 35th in all of NCAA DI while his 200 mark slots in at 60th.
The 200 preliminary round is set for Thursday, March 25 at 6:30 PM CT while the 100 pre will take place on Friday, March 26 at approximately 2:20 PM. The championship round for both events will take place on Saturday, March 27 (100 at 2:15 PM and 200 at 3:55 PM).
GVERO GOES IN THE HAMMER
Vojislav Gvero will be the lone New Orleans field athlete in the field as he goes for the hammer throw title on Thursday, March 24 at 12:30 PM CT.
Gvero placed third in the weight throw at the indoor conference championship meet, the second-straight year that he has made the podium in the event. He has competed twice in the hammer so far during outdoors, with a season-best heave of 59.55m at the South Alabama Invitational.
Gvero is currently second overall in the Southland in the hammer, a mark that ranks 34th in NCAA DI.
The standout thrower enters with a personal best of 61.75m in the event.
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