Nicholls track teams take part in LSU Twilight as SLC Championships approach
With the Southland Conference Championships quickly approaching, the Nicholls men’s and women’s track teams get one last chance to see how they stack up in the LSU Twilight indoor meet Friday in Baton Rouge.
It marks the second time for Nicholls to take part at the Baton Rouge venue. The Colonels opened the season by participating in the LSU Purple Tiger meet in January and followed that up McNeese Indoor Invite two weeks later.
“We’re excited heading in,” Nicholls track coach Stefanie Slekis said. “Obviously, I think we had a lot of success at the first two meets, so we’re looking for those individuals to have another great showing. I think we’ve seen a lot of fitness gained in the last training block.
“For the group that didn’t have the best day of those first two weeks, I think a lot things have improved and clicked, so kind of looking for our top group to have an even better day and then the next group to also have a good showing that we’ve worked on some things the last few weeks.
The SLC Championships are scheduled for February 25-6 at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala.
Along with Nicholls and host LSU, other teams taking part in the LSU Twilight include the University of New Orleans, McNeese State, Houston, Texas Lutheran, Southeastern Louisiana, Tulane, Texas A&M-Commerce, Xavier of Louisiana, Dillard, Meridian Community College, and Hinds Community College.
There are slight variations from the first LSU to Friday’s event, but the biggest changes come with the approach taken by the teams and the quality of competition.
“They don’t run the 600 anymore this meet because now we’re into the later portion of the season,” Slekis explained. “We aren’t racing the 3k this week because we go to conference a week later, so our longer distance kids are gonna drop down to the mile as opposed to how Luke (Futey) ran the 3k the last meet.
“Otherwise, who’s at the meet changes a little bit. There’s a mixture. Tulane is bringing some athletes this time. That’s some good quality at the meet. New Orleans is coming to the meet, so got some good quality added to the meet, but LSU will run less of their top runners here because they would have just flown to a meet together as a team this past weekend.”
Even the makeup of the host LSU team will be different, according to Slekis.
“LSU’s only running two girls in the mile at this meet versus how they ran some of their really good girls the first meet because they’re also going to be at a meet the next day. Their team is traveling to Notre Dame. This is like LSU’s group that doesn’t get to travel to Notre Dame,” Slekis said.
The goals for the Nicholls track performers heading into the final event before the conference championships, Slekis said, vary by what each athlete may be looking to accomplish.
“Obviously, I think everyone’s looking to improve where they’ve been this season,” said Slekis. “Maria (Nikolaou), who ran really well in the 600 and 800, she’s moving up to the mile and we’re looking just to see her get on the (school’s) all-time Top 10 list and how close she can get to running five minutes or breaking the five-minute-mile barrier, which is pretty exciting for her.
“Goran (Duijsters) is going to run the 800, and so are a couple of the other guys and ladies. Coach (Troy) Taylor’s group, a few of them are moving up to the 800 finally. They’ve been running the 600.”
If nothing else, the meet could serve as a confidence booster.
“Sydney (Brown) had a rough day at the first LSU meet but a great day at McNeese. In the jumps, I would love to see Sydney have a great day at this meet. Heading into the conference meet, she’s on the bubble to score in both the triple jump in the high jump. I think that would get her confidence up even more heading into the conference meet,” said Slekis.
