JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Seven McNeese track and field athletes will get one last chance to advance to the NCAA Championships when the group opens up competition at the 2016 NCAA East Preliminary meet beginning Thursday at North Florida's Hodges Stadium.
 
Those Cowboys and Cowgirls competing include: Nicole Casper, women's pole vault; Morgan Woods, women's javelin; John Lemke, men's triple jump; Kartavius Hamilton, men's long jump; Donovan Banks and Kyle Zenon, men's javelin; and Tyler Smith, men's 100-meters.
 
Woods will start things off for McNeese at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday while the men's long jump carries a 2:30 start.
 
Banks and Zenon will open competition in the javelin at 11 a.m. on Friday and Casper will begin pole vault competition at 4 p.m. Smith will follow and will run in the quarterfinals of the 100 meters at 5:45.
 
On Saturday, Lemke will compete in the triple jump beginning at 2 p.m.
 
Casper is currently ranked No. 16 in the region in her event with a school record height of 13-feet, 10-inches and is coming off a Southland Conference championship. Meanwhile Woods, just a freshman, is ranked 51^st in the region with a throw of 146-9 that she marked at the SLC outdoor championships for a fourth place finish.
 
On the men's side, the freshman Banks is ranked No. 27 in the East Region in the javelin throw with a mark of 219-2 while Zenon, a sophomore, is 44^th with a 211-8 throw. The two finished second and third at the SLC championships.
 
Lemke is ranked 30^th in the triple jump with a leap of 51-3 while Hamilton is 47^th in the long jump with a mark of 24-7.75
 
Smith will enter the 100-meter dash ranked 53^rd in the region with a best time of 10.47.