THIBODAUX, La. – After a few weeks off, the Nicholls State University track and field teams will cross state lines to compete in the 2025 Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Holloway Field in Houston, Texas on May 15-17.
 
Nicholls track and field head coach Stefanie Slekis gave her thoughts on how the team has been training.
 
"We are excited to head back to Houston for our conference championship. We've had a great training block since our last meet there and are showing signs that we are ready for some big performances at the championship," Slekis said.
 
Slekis mentioned multiple events the units should excel in.
 
"Issy Rivault will be tripling 10k steeple 5k like Elsa did her senior year and we're excited to see how the men's 4x1 does after a good training block. Also, Jinte Braas in the heptathlon looks to improve on her score after a good training block since her heptathlon at SFA. While Sydney brown will be strong in triple jump and high jump Saturday.
 
Lastly, Slekis spoke about how the team is ready to finish the year strong on the track after taking care of business in the classroom.
 
"We have a great group of young people who support each other. They've received some academic recognition the past few weeks as the semester finished and I know they're ready to show all of their hard work in athletics this week now that classes have finished up," Slekis said.
 
The Colonels kept its momentum rolling as the units tallied multiple top 10 finishes in the J. Fred Duckett Twilight hosted by Rice University on Saturday, April 26.
 
The Red & Gray had multiple impressive outings on the track including Isabelle Seijlhouwer won the women's 800-meter race after finishing her two laps in 2:15.41 while Laya Ingalls placed sixth with a time of 2:21.72. Nisaiah Bennett clocked a time of 10.96 to finish third in the men's 100-meter dash. Bennett also placed fifth in the men's 200 with a time of 21.76.  Iyauna Vicks placed 10th in the women's 400-meter race with a time 1:00.94. Issy Rivault (11:33.07) and Lotte Aerts (12:57.15) placed fourth and eighth in the women's 3K Steeple chase.
 
Andrea Tirado (1:09.72) and Ava-Claire Calais (1:11.99) placed third and fourth in the women's 400m hurdles while Andre Fuentes (55.75) finished second in the men's 400m hurdles. Sydney Brown had the lone top 10 mark in the field as she soared 11.58 meters to place 10th in the women's triple jump.