SU Ready for SWAC Indoor Championships, Men Defend Title

Southern University Track and Field team have been at work all season to be in the right condition to be one of the top competitors in the Indoor Track Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship.
The 2003 Indoor track championship will be held at Louisiana State University field house March 1-2.  
There will be 10 men and women track teams competing for the title. Southern men will be defending their title and the women will be going in as the fifth place competitors.
“If we put everything together we can finish in the top five, these young ladies are very strong, they will not back down to competitors,” said Johnny Thomas, Southern’s head track and field coach.
The women are going into the championship in the state that they were in last year. However, this year they have more unity, heart and drive to place higher than fifth place. In distance events the women will only be able to score a few point do to the fact that they lost three runners.  
In the middle distance, senior Aisha Harris and freshman Jovanni Anderson have the time to place in the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter dash.  The women are loaded in sprints however only a few have the times to place.  The hurdles will not be a problem for the ladies at all with juniors Francella Williams LaToya Johnson-they have performed with speed all season.  
In the field, the women are much stronger with three high jumpers, a long jumper and a triple jumper. In the shot put and weight throw the women should place well with five throwers.  They are only 15 in number, but great in strength. These women will defiantly rise to the challenge of the SWAC.
The Jaguar men’s team will be looking to defend its indoor title winning last season ahead of Alcorn and Texas Southern.
“The men are at same level that they were last year. We lost our op sprinter Jonathan Robinson to a broken ankle; therefore he will not be able to define his 60-meter title indoor however the outdoor champion Brian Johnson is with us for indoors.  The men are not as strong in the field however, if we finish in the top three (overall) we have been successful this season,” said Thomas
The men are going in with great confidence having three qualifying times for nationals.  However that is just part of the strength they possess.  They are very strong in the sprinting events because they are loaded with good sprinters.
The middle distance and distance running events will not be a problem for the Jaguars, being that they have been consistent throughout the season.  They have an upper hand in the horizontal and vertical jumps this year with top performing athletes in these events.  The shot put and weight throw events are not as strong as last year. They have a leak of consistence in both of the event.
The Jaguars are going to give the rest of the SWAC a fight to the finish for their crown as SWAC champions.