LAKE CHARLES – McNeese track and field squads will compete Saturday in Baton Rouge at the LSU Alumni Gold meet while a select number of runners will take part at the Rice Fred Duckett Twilight later Saturday night.
 
The LSU Alumni Gold will feature many teams from across the nation including Florida, Clemson and Arkansas.  The meet will also have professional athletes competing, as well as LSU alumni who have, or are training to compete in the Olympics.
 
With quite a few Cowboys and Cowgirls accepted into the prestigious LSU Alumni Gold meet, this weekend will be an excellent opportunity to fine-tune things in preparation for the league championships in two weeks. 
 
Cowboy sprinter Tyler Syrie will run in the A section of the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash where he will compete against Grant Holloway of Florida, who is the fastest hurdler in the NCAA and one of the fastest in the world, as well as one of the best long jumpers and all-around sprinters in the NCAA. 
 
"I think this a very great opportunity to be in the same atmosphere let alone the same race as him," said Syrie. "He's regarded as one of the best collegiate athletes ever and I just want to go out and execute the race. I know being able to compete against such a high level athlete as Grant means that I've worked very hard and proven myself to run with the best in the NCAA and that is what makes this weekend such a special meet."
 
Senior Cowboy Niall Holt will compete in the 1500-meter run.  The Cowboy runner will be running against a predominantly SEC field of runners in the A section.  Looking to be a quick race, this should be an excellent opportunity for Holt to really run well as the conference championships approach. 
 
The Cowboys and Cowgirls will kick things off on the track at the LSU Alumni Gold meet at 8:45 A.M. with the 3000-meter steeplechase and 10:00 A.M. in the field with the women's long jump. 
 
The afternoon session of running events which features A sections will begin at 2:00 P.M.
 
At the Rice meet, Miguel Barrera-Lopez, Aaron Gilliam, Daniel Saina and Markus Kopp will compete in the 5,000-meters at 9:35 Saturday night.