The Colonel track team is in preparation for the Southland Conference Championship, to be held in Arlington, Texas May 12-14. Jamaal James is one of a host of Colonels that head coach Matt Pantusa thinks will fare well at conference.

James will compete in the 400-meter dash, an event which he holds the school record in. James is ranked fifth heading into conference.

“He is very intent on winning,” Pantusa said. “His times are kind of holding steady because he is slowing down towards the end of the race.

“At conference, I can guess that he won’t slow down, because he’s learned his lesson,” Pantusa said.

Farren Clark is another top Colonel runner looking for success at the SLC meet.

Clark, an 800-meter run specialist, is ranked fifth in the SLC and has posted two times under the 1:54 barrier, an accomplishment which has only been completed by one other person in Nicholls history.

“He (Clark) should make the finals,” Pantusa said. “In the finals, if he runs where he’s capable of, then he should get a medal too.

“If he puts his mind to it, he can beat a lot of the older runners,” Pantusa said.

Pantusa said he thinks the men’s 4X400-relay team has a shot to score some points for the Colonels.

“It would be great to score a point this year,” Pantusa said. “To do that, we need to beat at least three teams.”

The team of James, Clark, Troy Alvorado, and Jeremy Brown is ranked 10th out of 11 teams.

Colonel long distance runner Mikael Larsson is still trying to recover from an illness which occurred during the spring break.

Larsson, who is the Colonels top runner in both the 1500-meter run and the 5000-meter run, has been hindered the past two meets due to the illness.

“Mikael still isn’t 100% healed from spring break, but he should be there for conference,” Pantusa said.

The track team will be well represented in the field events, as the team will be led by seniors Donnie Ourso and Kristy Mire.

Ourso and Mire are ranked second in their respective events of shot put and javelin

“I hope they both do well at conference,” Pantusa said. “They both are seniors, so this will be their last shot.”

Pantusa said he thinks Ourso should be one of the favorites to win the shot put.

“I think he will get a medal, and it could be the gold medal,” Pantusa said. “He’s fired up right now and is focused, so I seriously think he can win the gold medal.”

Pantusa said Mire could be in the hunt for a medal, if she is on her game during the conference.

“On a good day, she’ll get a medal,” Pantusa said. “She’s our best javelin thrower we’ve ever had.

“Kristy has gotten fourth or fifth every year, so now is her time to move up into the elite three,” Pantusa said.