THIBODAUX, La. -- Thursday afternoon, Nicholls State University head track & field/cross country coach Stefanie Slekis officially released the schedules for all six of her programs set to kickoff throughout the Spring 2021 semester, starting with indoor track & field at the LSU Purple Tiger on Jan. 16 and wrapping up in mid-May at the Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Earlier this past March, the Red & Gray's outdoor program was forced to cancel 2020 competition due to COVID-19 protocol while the men's & women's cross country teams shifted their usual fall schedule into the early spring (Jan. 25 kickoff) due to similar circumstances.

The Colonels cross country program are set to get the season underway late in January at fellow Southland member Southeastern Louisiana, competing at the Southeastern Pre-Conference Meet on Jan. 25 in a crucial opportunity to prepare for the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships on the same course less than a month later (Feb. 15). In between those pair of competitions, Nicholls will trek out-of-state for a major meet at Florida State, taking on a variety of programs at the FSU XC Invitational on Feb. 5.

"After a very strong fall training on campus together, with three team time trials, our teams are ready to kick off the season at the pre-conference meet in Hammond," Slekis said. "Not only will this meet get the rust off from not racing in 10 months, but it will also allow us to get to know the conference championship course for race planning when we return three weeks later for the league cross country championship. Our men's and women's team's are coming off two of our highest team finishes for Nicholls in the last several years and are hungry to improve as a team and place individuals in the Top 15 for all-conference honors."

Meanwhile, the Red & Gray track & field squads will shift their attention to a pair of early-season indoor competitions at LSU, initially trekking north to Baton Rouge for the LSU Purple Tiger on Jan. 16 before returning just under two weeks later for the Louisiana Invitational on Jan. 29. The women's team alone will head over to the Samford Indoor in mid-February before the entire program travels back to the Birmingham CrossPlex for the Southland Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships to close out the month Feb. 28 - Mar. 1.

"Our last meet was the 2019 indoor Championship where our women's team scored the most points at the indoor championship for Nicholls since 2015 and we are looking to reawaken that momentum after a strong fall training together," Slekis continued. "Our back-to-back meets at LSU will have strong competition for our men's and women's sprints, hurdles, jumps, and 800m runners before our women's team has the opportunity to compete at the Birmingham CrossPlex where our conference championship will be held. This will be an ideal opportunity for our team to compete on a 200m banked track and be primed for the championship two weeks later."

Last, but certainly not least, the Nicholls outdoor track & field teams will initiate competition for the first time since May 2019 with the Louisiana Classics at Louisiana-Lafayette on Mar. 19. The Colonels will follow up with the Strawberry Relays at Southeastern Louisiana on Apr. 10, the Leon Johnson Invitational at Northwestern State a week later on Apr. 17 and then back to Hammond, La. for the Southeastern Invitational on May 1, all before heading out-of-state for the first time to the Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, set for May 15 - 16 in Abilene, Texas.

"For the outdoor slate, we have a very strong local schedule as the team heads back to Northwestern State for the Leon Johnson Invitational we competed at during the 2018 season," Slekis concluded. "The Southland will require individuals to rank inside the Top 24 in order to qualify for the championships in Abilene, Texas. I am really excited about Southeastern hosting an additional meet on Saturday, May 1st exactly two weeks before the conference championship, as we plan to see our top student-athletes move up on the performance list at this meet and/or add another event they qualify in. We'd like as many members of our team to qualify in an event as possible at this final regular season opportunity to ensure we lock in spots at the outdoor championships."

For more details on the Nicholls Track & Field/Cross Country Schedules, please visit:
Men's XC // Women's XC
Men's T&F // Women's T&F

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