CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Lincoln Memorial University track and field teams will open the outdoor season this weekend with a trip to Charlotte, N.C. and Transamerica Field to compete in the 49er Classic.
 
The Basics
 
What: 49er Classic
Where: Charlotte, N.C.
When: March 16-17
Meet Information
Live Results
Track and Field report
 
Turning the Page
 
The indoor track and field season ended just over three weeks ago when Lincoln Memorial competed in the inaugural South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. The women's team finished in seventh place in that event while the men's team took ninth place.
 
Now Lincoln Memorial shifts its attention to the outdoor season, where the majority of its athletes feel the most at ease.  
 
"During indoor season we go to different tracks and they are all different sizes," said Director of Track and Field Rochelle Black. "At an outdoor track you all know it's 400 meters and four laps is a mile. They have a little bit of comfort there.
 
"A lot of our kids came here to do more outdoor track and field type events. They will be more comfortable, more in their wheelhouse."
 
Several athletes will be making their debuts in their primary events, including 400-meter hurdlers Anna Verdu Cobo, Jamaal Wiggins and Kyle Nabe. Nabe and Aaron Reed will also become the first LMU athletes to take part in the javelin throw.
 
"We have a lot of kids that haven't been able to do their events this year," Black said. "We have some 400-meter hurdlers that are finally able to run and a couple javelin throwers. I'm looking forward to them actually seeing what they can do."
 
Setting the Table
 
The 49er Classic is the first of four regular-season outdoor events on tap for Lincoln Memorial. With it being the first meet in a grueling schedule that leads to the SAC Outdoor Championships on April 20, Lincoln Memorial is looking to lay a foundation and build towards peaking at the right time.
 
"Something I talked to the team about earlier was equating it to Thanksgiving or Christmas. Right now we are just making our food and setting our table," Black said. "This is just the start of a long season. This is just a small stepping stone to a longer season."
 
The 49er Classic kicks off a string of four straight weekends in which Lincoln Memorial will compete. Next week the team heads to the Lindsey Wilson College Invitational before ending March at the one-day Terrier Relays. Lincoln Memorial concludes the regular season slate at the VertKlasse Meeting in High Point, N.C.
 
Running Down the Schedule
 
The 49er Classic begins on Thursday with the Heptathlon and the Decathlon, but Lincoln Memorial will not take part in the event until Friday.
 
The opening day of the 49er Classic will be a busy one for Lincoln Memorial, beginning with Nabe's run in the 110-meter hurdles at 12:30. The freshman will also compete in the javelin throw along with Reed that same day.
 
Syann Buis and Ronda Capps will run in the 100-meter dash in the early afternoon, while Jerrica Covington, Jordan Crawfod and Kaitlyn Tisch will take part in the 400-meter race.
 
On the men's side, two-time defending SAC 400-meter champion Oluwatosin Balogun begins the final outdoor season of his career in the 400-meter dash at 2:50. Jevon Joseph will also take part in that event.
 
Cobo will become the first female athlete in school history to contend in the 400-meter hurdles at 3:30, while Wiggins will be the first men's runner to compete in that event since 2015.
 
Tabea Kandlbauer is set to run in one of the more grueling races in the track and field universe when she enters the 3000-meter steeplechase at 4:30. Daniel Johnson and Eva Dunn will take part in the 1500-meter run immediately following that.
 
The men's and women's 5000-meter runs close out Lincoln Memorial's day. On the women's side, Allie and Layney Vincent will run that race, while Jacob Gatewood, Jorge Hernandez and Jacob King will run it for the men's team.
 
Saturday features a much lighter load for Lincoln Memorial.
 
Fresh off a third-place finish at the SAC Indoor Championships, Karen Robinson will take part in the triple jump at 11 a.m. and will be joined by teammate Morgan Salyers.
 
Unique Earley, Chloe Harp and Marykate Longmire run in the 800-meter race at 12:50, while Jonathan Hughes, Joseph and Brandon Vaughn will run that race for the Railsplitters.
 
Four women will contend in the 200-meter dash in Melissa Carpenter, Hanna Ratliff, Buis and Capps.
 
Lincoln Memorial then closes out the event with the 3000-meter race and the women's 4x400 relay. On the men's side, Harrison Calhoun and Garrett Napier will run in the 3k. The 4x400 relay team will be comprised of Carpenter, Earley, Ratliff and Tisch.
 
Same Place, New Role
 
This time 15 years ago, Black, the second-year Director of the LMU track and field programs, competed in the 49er Classic as a member of the Radford track and field squad. Black still holds the Radford school record in the high jump with a 2.10-meter jump in the 2003 Big South Championships.