Southern University announced on April 30 that its track and field team will participate in the Jaguar Invitational, hosted by the University of South Alabama at the USA Track & Field Complex. The event is scheduled for Friday and will serve as one of the final competitions before postseason meets.
The meet will feature several regional programs, including University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Loyola University New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana, Spring Hill College, and Marion Military Institute. According to Southern University, field events are set to begin at 11:30 a.m., with running events starting at 5 p.m. and concluding with the 1500-meter runs at 8:15 p.m.
Southern’s athletes are expected to be prominent in throwing events. Ariyonna Edmond, Layla Spann-McDonald, and Ayanna Hunt enter the women’s hammer throw with competitive marks. Edmond and Hunt will also compete in shot put later in the day. For men’s throws, Haywood Gallien and Michael Fulton are entered in hammer throw, shot put, and discus.
In jumping events, Kendall Cook and Sincere Wilson are listed for women’s long jump while Mashayla Lazard represents Southern in high jump. On the track side, Rondisa Williams leads Southern’s sprint group with top seed times in both the 100-meter dash (11.58 seconds) and 200 meters (23.72 seconds). Jayla Franklin is also entered in both sprints.
Middle distance runners include London Harden for women’s 800 meters (2:18.20) while Keeton Johnson holds a leading men’s seed time of 1:50.76 for the same event; Johnson is also scheduled for the men’s 1500 meters later that evening.
As postseason approaches for collegiate track teams across the region, performances from this invitational may play a role in shaping lineups or strategies going forward.
