McNeese Track and Field will split squads this weekend with a majority of the sprinters heading to Baton Rouge to run at the LSU Alumni Gold meet while the rest of the crew to travel to Houston to compete at the Rice J. Fred Duckett Twilight.
 
Following this weekend, the Cowboys and Cowgirls will run at the ULM Warhawk Classic next weekend in the final tune-up before the May 9-11 Southland Conference Championships which will be held at Holloway Field in Houston.
 
The Cowgirls will enter the weekend currently ranked No. 1 in the conference according to the USTFCCCA while the Cowboys are third. Regionally, the Cowgirls are ranked No. 8 and the Cowboys 18^th in the South Central Region.
 
McNeese is ranked No. 1 in nine different events in the Southland rankings – six women and three men.
 
Cowgirl javelin thrower Blanche Beard will be looking to stay perfect on the season as she goes for her seventh straight win, 15^th in her career, at the Rice meet. Beard has a league-best mark of 164-5 which also ranks her ninth in the region and No. 14 on the NCAA East Qualifying List.
 
Hammer thrower Mariah Lee has won five of the six meets competed on the season and is first in the conference with a season-best throw of 192-5.
 
With two wins on the year, high jumper Sakari Famous will compete in her specialty event as the No. 1 jumper in the league with a height of 5-10.75, which also ranks her No. 4 in the region and fifth on the NCAA East Qualifying List.
 
Jeny Barcenas, who twice this season has broken the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, will attempt to improve on her No. 1 conference ranking which stands at 10:30.48. Her time is ranked third in the region and 24^th in the NCAA East.
 
Morgan Talley, who is ranked No. 1 in both the triple jump and the heptathlon, will run the 100m hurdles at Rice, an event she's ranked third in the conference and 18^th in the region.
 
On the men's side, 800-meter record-holder Alex Martin, will run at Rice. Martin is No. 1 in the event in the conference, eighth in the region and 45^th in the East with a time of 1:49.07, which he clocked last week at SFA and broke a 52-year-old school record.
 
At the LSU meet, Jalon White will run the 400m, 4x100 and 4x400. White is No. 1 in the conference in the 400 with a time of 46.25. He's also 11^th in the region and 19^th in the East. He's teamed with Jaden Powell, Samuel Gray and Ondray Miles to rank No. 1 in the league in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:41.38. That also ranks the team 10^th in the region and 40^th in the East.