2014 SWAC Indoor Track & Field Preview

2014 SWAC Indoor Track and Field Championship Central

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The Alabama State University men and women's track and field teams are set to compete in this weekend's 2014 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Indoor Track and Field Championship.

The Hornets will travel to the Birmingham CrossPlex which will host to the championships held on Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 22-23rd.

The Lady Hornets are looking to defend last year's championship as well as extend their consecutive win streak to six titles, spanning from 2009-13, and push their overall team Indoor crowns to ten. The men will be looking to better their seventh place finish from last season.

"We have worked hard this season," Head Coach Ritchie Beene said. "We have done everything we could do leading up to the championship, and now it's in the hands of our athletes to go out and perform to the best of their abilities this weekend."

We understand that our athletes compete every week with targets on their backs especially our ladies' as defending champions, so we're excited to go up there with a positive mindset and handle university business."

The Lady Hornets will need someone to step up this weekend as the they will be without top former student-athlete, now ASU graduate and coach, Tia Rolle who played a big part in last year's title run scoring 30 big points winning the 60m,200m and long jump events.

Several of the ladies will be looking to break SWAC records this weekend as the 4x400m relay team which has ran 3:42 earlier in the season will try and break Prairie View's old mark of 3:46.19 set at last year's championship. Artrailia Lesane will look to break the mile record of 5:02 set by Vasity Chemweno having run 4:58.47 already this season. Paige Rankine who has ran a 17:32.61 in the 5,000m run this season will look to break the old record set by Joyce Chumo of 18:27.47 back in 2012.

"Records are always hard to break," Beene said. "We are going up there with the mindset that we are going to put the fastest people on the track in our relays and any events they are going to be competing in and with that being said if records are broke that will be something exciting for the program that we can do again this year."

The men will need Lee Thrasher to continue his strong marks in the throws this season in order for the Hornets to contend for the championship. He placed second last season in both the weight throw and shotput events. Christopher Amisial the lone first place finisher from a season ago in the pole vault will look to defend his title in a packed field.

"I'm excited about where we're heading with our men's program," Beene said. "Our expectation for our men is to go to Birmingham and improve from where we finished off last year."

Saturday's events will begin at 9 a.m. with the men's and women's shot put and long jump. The running events are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. with the women's 3000 meter run.

COURTESY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS