The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns track and field team will begin action on Monday as it competes in the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Action in the two-day competition begins with the first four events of the men's heptathlon at 9 a.m., before action follows in the men's weight throw slated for 10.
The Cajuns will look to challenge for several individual titles, including Tarvia Conway (women's triple jump) and Justin Victor (men's weight throw), who both have posted the best marks in the Sun Belt Conference this season.
On the women's side, the Ragin' Cajuns were picked to finish fifth in the 10-team meet with several athletes ranked among the top-10 in the league. Conway returns to the same venue where she posted the best mark in the triple jump (40 feet, 5.5 inches) at the Samford Multi and Invitational.
Lindsey Harmon (high jump) posted the second-best jump among SBC athletes with Meredith Driskell (pole vault), Ta'Shania Bean (long jump) and Danielle Castaldi (800-meters) enter third in their respective events with Morgan Breaux (60-meters), Alex Harrell (high jump) and Emily Gale (pole vault) fourth.
On the men's side, the Ragin' Cajuns are picked to finish seventh, but will look to score points in field events where three athletes are ranked in the top three.
Victor, rated 18th nationally in the weight throw, claimed first-place honors in all five meets he competed in this season, including a school-record toss of 67-11.5 at the McNeese Cowboy Indoor III meet on Feb. 15. Freshman Dionte Heath posted the second-best mark in the high jump (6-11.75) with Ricky Theyard rated third in the league in the triple jump (49-3).
The meet will be streamed live via webcast and fans can also follow along via Twitter (@The_Sun_Belt) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/SunBeltConference). Results, photos and more can be found on our Championship Central page for indoor track & field at www.SunBeltSports.org.
Men's Indoor Track & Field Predicted Order of Finish
(first-place votes)
WKU - 41 (5)
UT Arlington - 37 (2)
Arkansas State - 31
Texas State - 29
UL Monroe - 18
South Alabama - 16
Louisiana - 16
UALR - 8
Women's Indoor Track & Field Predicted Order of Finish
(first-place votes)
WKU - 66 (5)
Texas State - 65 (1)
Arkansas State - 60 (3)
UT Arlington - 53
Louisiana - 36
Georgia State - 35
South Alabama - 32
UL Monroe - 24
UALR - 17
Troy – 17