THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University men's and women's track & field teams will begin their indoor season at the LSU Purple Tiger Event at Carl Maddox Field House on Friday, January 13 in Baton Rouge.
 
WHAT: LSU Purple Tiger
WHEN: Friday, January 13
WHERE: Carl Maddox Field House | Baton Rouge, La. 
 
Last time on the indoor track, senior Elsa Rijpstra was the lone Colonel medalist at the 2022 Southland Indoor Championships. She earned a gold medal in the women's 5000-meter run with a program record time of 17:25.06. A native of Oentsjerk, The Netherlands, she placed within the top 10 in every indoor event she competed in, including three top-five finishes.
 
The men look to continue to move the program's momentum forward. Last year at the Purple Tiger, Amari Godette highlighted the event with first-place finish in the 200-meter, clocking a 22.89. 
 
Friday's meet is one of four indoor events for the Colonels before heading to Birmingham for the Southland Championships. Including the championship, Nicholls will make three trips to Birmingham as they take part in the Samford Multis and Samford Bulldog Invitational. The Colonels wrap up January with a meet at McNeese.
 
For the outdoor season starting in mid-March, the Colonels will have a total of five events before the Southland championship on May 5 in Commerce, Texas. The three meets in March are the UL's Louisiana Classics, LSU's Battle on the Bayou, and UT's Texas Relays. April consists of Northwestern State's Leon Johnson Invitational and Rice's J. Fred Duckett Twilight.
 
Nicholls head track & field coach Stefanie Slekis gave her thoughts and expectations of her units going into the track season.
 
"After our women's team set 22 new all-time top 10 performer's marks this past year, I am looking forward to even more of our women putting their names in our history books," Slekis said. "We also have been looking through our men's track & field record books and are excited to get a more established top 10 all-time performers list going for them as well. If any alumni have information they would like to submit, we encourage them to reach out to our staff." 
 
Slekis spoke about the schedule and how the challenges can benefit the teams.
 
"Our staff is really excited about our schedule this year," Slekis said. "We have a great combination of local competitive opportunities and a few key overnight trips where we will be looking to see some big performances." 

"We also have a few of the meets we have made a tradition over the past five years I have been at Nicholls, but additionally, I am excited to head back to LSU outdoor after having not been the past two years," Slekis added. "We're making the trip to Rice University although this time will be for the J. Fred Duckett Twilight as a perfect final opportunity before we head back to Texas for the Outdoor conference championship in Commerce."

FOLLOW THE COLONELS
Follow Nicholls Track & Field on social media on Twitter (@Nicholls_XCTF) and Instagram. Follow Colonel Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe to the official YouTube channel (Nicholls Athletics).