BATON ROUGE, La. — The Southern University track and field program will be on the road Friday for the Jaguar Invitational hosted by the University of South Alabama at the USA Track & Field Complex.
 
The meet serves as one of the final tune-ups before postseason competition and brings together a strong regional field that includes University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Loyola University New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana, Spring Hill College and Marion Military Institute.
 
Field events begin at 11:30 a.m. with the women's and men's discus, while the hammer throw, long jump and pole vault start at 2 p.m. Running events are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. with the hurdles and will continue into the evening, concluding with the 1500-meter runs at 8:15 p.m.
 
Southern will be well represented in the throwing events. In the women's hammer throw, Ariyonna Edmond (52.57m seed), Layla Spann-McDonald (49.68m) and Ayanna Hunt (51.77m) enter with competitive marks. Edmond and Hunt will also contend in the shot put later in the afternoon with seeds of 13.57m and 13.51m, respectively. On the men's side, Haywood Gallien and Michael Fulton are slated to compete in the hammer, shot put and discus, giving Southern multiple opportunities in the throws.
 
In the jumps, Kendall Cook (5.74m) and Sincere Wilson (5.89m) are entered in the women's long jump, while Mashayla Lazard will represent the Jaguars in the high jump with a 1.65m seed.
 
On the track, Rondisa Williams headlines Southern's sprint group. The junior enters the 100-meter dash with an 11.58 seed time and will also compete in the 200 meters where she holds a 23.72 seed, one of the top marks in the field. Jayla Franklin is also entered in both sprint events, while Southern will have athletes competing in the 400 meters, hurdles and relays throughout the evening.
 
In the middle distances, London Harden is set to run the 800 meters (2:18.20), while Keeton Johnson leads the Southern men in the 800 with a 1:50.76 seed time, one of the fastest in the field. Johnson will return later in the evening for the 1500 meters as well.

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