May 8, 2008

The Southland Conference track and field championship meet kicks off on Friday in Huntsville, TX with two events that should draw points for McNeese State performers.

They're the javelin for men and women and the hammer throw for the men.

Carlese Franklin leads the conference in the men's javelin with teammate David Richardson ranked second and Ben Chretien fourth. Franklin has gone 218-6 while Richardson has thrown 216-2 and Chretien 204-1.

Richardson has been bothered by a shoulder injury but is expected to throw on Friday.

In the women's javelin, Julie Buller leads the Cowgirls with a 134-6 mark while Amanda LeJeune has gone 123-10.

And, in the hammer throw, McNeese record holder Freddie Hannie has gone 189-4 to rank second among SLC performers this year.

The remainder of the events take place Saturday and Sunday. Mainly prelims are set for Saturday although final events concerning McNeese on that day will be the women's shot put, men's long jump and shot put, women's high jump and the men's steeplechase.

Sunday's finals are set to begin at 1 p.m. for the field events and 5 p.m. for the running events.

McNeese doesn't expect to make any challenges for a team title but both the Cowboys and the Cowgirls could come up with middle of the pack finishes.

And, they've got a few performers who will battle for individual titles.

Besides Franklin and Hannie, other Cowboys who could walk off with titles or at least with medals are long jumper Marcus Brown, shot putter John Jamail and distance runners Michael Dyer, Jordan Neil and Stephen Scullion.

McNeese probably lost up to 20 or more points when Darrick Brown was unable to compete. He had signed a free agent football contract with the Oakland Raiders and the team's first mini-camp is going on this weekend. In 2006, Brown scored 23 points for the Cowboys at the conference meet.

For the Cowgirls, those who should challenge for medals are sprinter Christi McRae, high jumper Lindsay Brooks and distance runner Amy Guinn.

A year ago the Cowboys finished sixth in the conference meet and the Cowgirls placed ninth.