PRAIRIE VIEW, TX – The most anticipated time of year is back again for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men's and women's track and field teams as they made safe travels to the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference) Outdoor Track & Field Championships with the main focus of collecting hardware to bring back to Pine Bluff.
Several great things happened at last year's outdoor championships, with a great handful of Golden Lion athletes earning the right to wear a valuable piece of jewelry around their necks due to all the hard work they have put in on the track behind the scenes. This year, Arkansas-Pine Bluff is coming for even more.
Sensation Safiya John is a name that holds a lot of weight at this year's championships as she continues to have high expectations for her performances in the multi-events, 100-meter hurdles with the top time in the SWAC of 13.23 seconds, women's long jump with a top mark of 6.32 meters, women's triple jump, and the women's high jump as she holds the top entry of 1.75 meters.
John has been dominant all year long as she's been breaking meet and facility records and has set an early trend of breaking SWAC records.
The hurdles will be a top-tier competition for Arkansas-Pine Bluff in this year's championships with not just John, but the fierceness of Leandria Elam and Raina Perry in the women's 400-meter hurdles as they both continue to mark new personal bests by the week. All three Lady Lion hurdlers are expected to post a massive PB in the hurdles.
With competition comes sacrifice, and Deonmonique Granville has made a wise decision to compete in the outdoor championships on the same weekend she will receive her master's degree from UAPB. Granville lives for the championship environment and is expected to put on a show for spectators.
On the men's side, Che Rochford and Franklyn Stanislaus will be two top-tier competitors in the men's decathlon, with a great coaching staff behind them that'll push them through every race, jump, and throw.
Stephen Lane currently holds the fastest entry in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.41 seconds, with hopes to pull off a big personal best, and is looking to run a sub-14 in a warm climate this weekend.
Also holding the top entry is Caleb Snowden in the men's high jump, with a mark of 2.14 meters. Snowden was a silver medalist at last year's championships but is looking to secure a gold medal by climbing over the seven-foot barrier.
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