JONESBORO, Ark. (5/12/21) – A long wait ends Thursday for the Arkansas State track and field teams, as the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships are set to begin Thursday at Jaguar Track in Mobile, Alabama.
The meet is the first conference outdoor meet since the Scarlet and Black hosted in 2019, winning the women's crown. A-State is looking to repeat as women's outdoor champions, while the men are seeing their second in the last three championships.
Action begins at 9 a.m. Thursday with the first day of the decathlon, while the women open the heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. The women's hammer will be the first final contested of the week, beginning at noon. The women's 1500m prelims kicks things off on the track, set for a 7:10 p.m. starting gun.
ESPN+ will broadcast all three days of competition, starting at 7 p.m. CT Thursday, then at 5 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday. Due to COVID-19 policies, no more than 200 fans will be allowed at any given time. Spectators must wear a face mask at the championship event except while eating or drinking.
RED WOLVES IN TOP 10 IN SOUTH CENTRAL REGION: Both Arkansas State teams remained in the top 10 of the USTFCCCA South Central Region TFRI Rankings, with the men ranking sixth and the women eighth.
CHAMPIONSHIP TRADITION: Dating back to the 2019 outdoor championships, Arkansas State has won seven of the 10 championships, not finishing lower than third in all of them.
Going back even further since the 2019 indoor championships, the Red Wolves have finished first or second in 10 of the 12 meets. The only outlier was in the 2020 Men's Cross Country Championship, where A-State placed third as a team. No other school has finished in the top four in all 12 meets during that span.
Since Jim Patchell took over the track and field/cross country program, Arkansas State has won 15 Sun Belt titles. In program history, A-State has won 43 overall conference crowns.
A-STATE IN THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE: A-State's men hold 24 spots ranked inside the top five in the Sun Belt Conference entering this weekend, including the men's 4x400m relay team of Jermie Walker, Kobey Hill, Daidren Davis and Addison Ross as well as the 4x100m quartet of Walker, Chris Hill, Courtney Thomas and Ke'Von Holder. Seth Waters (1500m), Bennett Pascoe (3000mS), Frank Massey (high jump) and Carter Shell (long jump) all hold top spots in their respective events.
The women's team holds 21 total top-five spots in the league, with Pauline Meyer (1500m, 5000m, 3000mS), Sophie Leathers (10,000m), Allie Hensley (high jump), Lauren Beauchamp (pole vault), Imani Udoumana (triple jump) and Babette Vandeput (discus throw) leading their events.
A-STATE IN THE NCAA WEST REGION: The Red Wolves own 10 marks inside the top 50 in the NCAA West Region on the men's side, with nine currently within regional qualifying position. Bennett Pascoe leads the way with the third-best time in the steeplechase (8:38.12) while Carter Shell is fourth in the long jump (7.96m | 26-1.5). Frank Massey is 12th in the high jump (2.17m | 7-1.5), while Aimar Palma Simo is 15th in the hammer (65.55m | 215-1.0) and Bradley Jelmert is 30th in the pole vault (5.25m | 17-2.75).
A-State owns eight marks inside the top 50 in the region on the women's side – seven in qualifying position. Allie Hensley ranks 23rd in the high jump (1.77m | 5-9.75) while Babette Vandeput is also inside the top 30, 27th in the discus throw at 53.75m (176-4.0).
#EVENTSQUAD: This week, Arkansas State women's discus throw corps ranks 12th nationally in the USTFCCCA's #EventSquad Rankings with an average distance of 48.94m (160-7.0). Babette Vandeput leads the way with her throw of 53.75m (176-4.0) on April 2 at UAB. The Red Wolves rank 30th in the women's hammer throw with an average throw of 53.35m (175-1.0).
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