By: by Scott Lipsky
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AUBURN, Ala. – Kennesaw State Owls track and field will head down to Auburn, Ala. to compete in the War Eagle Invitational, one of just three meets remaining before the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships.
This meet will be the first one in April that the Owls will be bringing a full squad to. Last week, at the Sea Ray Relays, only a handful of competitors, mostly runners, were brought to Knoxville, Tenn. to compete, while the rest of the team spent the weekend training. Those who did participate performed very well, as freshman Nabil Hamid broke the program’s outdoor 10,00 meter record and nine top-10 finishes were recorded by head coach Don McGarey’s squad.
While Mercer will be the only A-Sun foe that will be present for the men this weekend, it is just as important for the Owls that they continue to get as many of their athletes into the NCAA East Regional, which takes the top 48 performers in each event.
As they currently stand, Kennesaw State, who is ranked 14th in the South Region in the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll this week, has four spots in the top-48 in the region- Kendall Parks (110 Meter Hurdles), Tremaine Grant (110 Meter Hurdles), Josh McNair (Shot Put) and the 4x100 Relay tandem of Jemir Martinez, Travis Benton, Park, and Frank Minton. Hamid’s 10,000 Meter performance currently puts him 49th.
Owls assistant coach Devin West is excited to get to Auburn and see if they can move anybody else into that coveted top-48 position.
“This is a conclusion of what we would call our SEC series. I think we've fared very well against some of the best the SEC and the region has to offer,” said West, referring to the fact that the Owls have also competed in meets at Florida and Tennessee. “This is one of our last opportunities to see where we stack up against some quality competition. This will also be another push for us to achieve some regional times.”
Action will begin on Friday and continue through Saturday. Live stats will be available throughout the weekend.
