THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University men's and women's track and field teams will cross state lines to compete in the 2026 Southland Conference Outdoor Championships in Nacogdoches, Texas. The three-day event from Homer Bryce Stadium will be on May 14-16.
Nicholls had a strong showing during the outdoor regular season where multiple individuals set personal-bests and school records. There are multiple Colonels that rank high amongst the SLC's top performers heading into the Championships.
Nisaiah Bennett set a new school record in the men's 200m race after clocking a time of 20.67 at LSU's Alumni Gold meet which is the second-best time in the SLC. Bennett set the school record in the men's 100m dash with a time of 10.38 at the Louisiana Classics which is the 11th best mark in the SLC. Bennet also joined Calahan Leahy,
Connor Gil, and Jonnell "Deuce" Scott to set the school record in the 4x100m relay at the LSU Alumni Gold at the end of April.
On the women's side,
Issy Rivault set the school record in the 3K with a time of 10:21.70 at the Pelican Relays. Rivault also holds the SLC's fourth best time in the 3K steeplechase (11:15.50) In the field,
Benjamin Rodrigue set the school record in the triple jump with a 14.47m leap at the Strawberry Relays which is the sixth best mark in the SLC.
Iradi Blasco recorded the second-best mark in the SLC with a 1.75m leap in the women's high jump at the Pelican Relays.
Nicholls head coach
Stefanie Slekis is thrilled about the team's progression throughout the season and is excited about the Championship meet.
"We are excited to be heading to Nacogdoches for the Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships," Slekis said. "Both our Men's and Women's teams are positioned the best they have been in recent years heading into the championships with the student-athletes we have ranked in the top 8 in their respective events. We had strong showings at our last two regular season meets at LSU and Texas A & M and are ready to perform well across all of our events. If our student-athletes focus on maximizing their potential in each of their events it will be exciting to see the team momentum we can build through the championships and the results will follow."
