Part 2 of a series previewing McNeese Track & Field as it heads into this weekend's Southland Conference Outdoor T&F Championships
 
LAKE CHARLES – McNeese track and field will head into this weekend's 2022 Southland Conference Outdoor Championships with its eyes on the gold in both the men's and women's divisions.
 
All week, we'll take a deeper look into the event categories for both the Cowboys and Cowgirls, leading up to Thursday's opening day in Humble, Texas.
 
Tuesday – Jumps, Throws.
Wednesday – Middle and Long Distance, Multis.
 
Jumps/Throws SLC Meet Schedule
Friday, May 6
10 a.m. – Men's Hammer
12:30 p.m. – Women's Hammer
3 p.m. – Women's Long Jump, Women's Javelin
5:30 p.m. – Men's Long Jump, Men's Javelin
 
Saturday, May 7
3 p.m. – Women's Shot Put, Men's Triple Jump
5 p.m. – Women's Pole Vault, Women's Triple Jump, Men's Shot Put
 
Sunday, May 8
10 a.m. – Women's Discus, Men's High Jump
11 a.m. – Men's Pole Vault
12:30 p.m. – Men's Discus, Women's High Jump
 
• NCAA rankings for the Cowboys – 53^rd, Hammer.
• NCAA rankings for the Cowgirls – 35^th, High Jump; 37^th, Javelin; 38^th, Discus; 52^nd, Shot Put; 61^st Long Jump.
 
• Individual SLC rankings for the Cowboys:
- High Jump: Ronnie Jackson, 8^th, 6-4.75; Patrick Boudreaux, 10^th, 6-2.75.
- Pole Vault: Hayes Thompson, 8^th, 14-9.
- Long Jump: Ronnie Jackson, 18^th, 22-4.5.
- Triple Jump: Ronnie Jackson, 5^th, 47-6.25.
- Shot Put: Marcus Francis, 9^th, 49-7; Garrett Dietert, 13^th, 47-7.75; Tyler Challis, 14^th, 47-1.5.
- Discus: Marcus Francis, 8^th, 153-3; Garrett Dietert, 15^th, 141-4; Tyler Challis, 19^th, 132-3.
- Hammer: Tyler Challis, 4^th, 173-9; Reilly LeBlanc, 7^th, 160-3; Garrett Dietert, 9^th, 152-0; Bryce Guillotte, 10^th, 139-7.
- Javelin: Darren Taylor, 3^rd, 191-5; Tyler Challis, 10^th, 154-4.
 
• Ronnie Jackson will be looking to contribute in several events including the triple jump where he's ranked No. 5 in the conference with a personal best mark of 47-6.25 that he recorded at the SFA Carl Kight Invite for a third place finish. He's coming off a second place finish in the high jump at the NSU Leon Johnson Invitational with a clearing of 6-4.75 to move him into the No. 8 spot in the conference.
• Freshman thrower Marcus Francis has shown improvement in every meet this outdoor season in both the shot put and discus events. He threw a PR of 153-3 in the discus at the NSU meet to move him up to 8^th in the conference rankings while his shot put best of 49-7 in ranked 9^th but just three feet from breaking into the top five.
• Freshman javelin thrower Darren Taylor is ranked No. 2 among active throwers in the league. McNeese's Hunter Longino is officially second but is out for the season. Taylor threw a PR of 191-5 at the NSU meet in his last competition. He has added 14 feet to his throw since making his collegiate debut back on March 11 at South Alabama.
 
• Individual SLC rankings for the Cowgirls:
- High Jump: Sakari Famous, 1^st, 5-11.5; Jordyn Garriet, 4^th, 5-7; Zur'Najah Poullard, 10^th, 5-3; Morgan Talley, 16^th, 4-11.5.
- Pole Vault: Maja Gebauer, 3^rd, 12-5.5; Aubry Weyerstrass, 9^th, 10-2.
- Long Jump: Dreunna Washington, 1^st, 20-1; Morgan Talley, 2^nd, 19-11.5; Malaiya Jedkins, 5^th, 19-5.25; Zur'Najah Poullard, 23^rd, 16-7.75.
- Triple Jump: Malaiya Jedkins, 1^st, 41-1; Morgan Talley, 3^rd, 40-8.25; Julianna Schmidt, 15^th, 34-7.
- Shot Put: Janell Fullerton, 1^st, 52-0; Ashari Jones, 4^th, 44-10.75; Ane Torres, 10^th, 42-11.75; Morgan Talley, 16^th, 36-0.25.
- Discus: Janell Fullerton, 2^nd, 162-1; Chloe Hernandez, 7^th, 144-2; Ane Torres, 8^th, 140-9; Ashari Jones, 13^th, 114-6.
- Hammer: Chloe Hernandez, 4^th, 173-5; Mariah Lee, 7^th, 160-7.
- Javelin: Blanche Beard, 1^st, 159-2; Janell Fullerton, 5^th, 135-2; Victoria Canter, 7^th, 125-10; Morgan Talley, 18^th, 95-8.
 
• The Cowgirls are ranked No. 1 in five different events and have nine top three rankings among eight throws and jumps events.
• Sakari Famous is No. 1 in the high jump, Dreunna Washington in the long jump, Malaiya Jedkins in the triple jump, Janell Fullerton the shot put and Blanche Beard in the javelin.
• Janell Fullerton will make a push to become the first Cowgirl to win gold in the shot put since Nikki Hunter at the 1998 championships. And should she pull off double gold medals in the shot put and discus, she'll become the first Cowgirl to ever achieve that feat.
• Malaiya Jedkins, with a No. 1 ranking in the triple jump, will look to become the first-ever Cowgirl gold medal winner in that event.