BATON ROUGE, La. — Five members of the Southern University track and field program are set to compete at the NCAA East Regional First Round, scheduled for May 27-30 at the Kentucky Outdoor Track and Field Facility in Lexington, Kentucky.
 
Representing the Jaguars on the men's side will be jumpers Koi Wedderburn, Keith Fowler and Roman Smith, while Taylor Hankton and Tashina Alase will compete for the Lady Jaguars in the hurdles.
 
Wedderburn will be the first Southern athlete in action, competing in the long jump at 6 p.m. on May 27 in flight two. The junior qualified after recording a mark of 7.69m (25-2.75) at the Bobcat Invitational, the 29th-best jump in the East Region this season. He enters the regional round coming off a strong performance at the SWAC Championships, where he posted a leap of 7.45m (24-5.5), his second-best mark of the year.
 
Alase will be the first Lady Jaguar to take the track, racing in heat one of the 100-meter hurdles beginning at 6 p.m. on May 28. The senior heads into the regional as one of the nation's elite hurdlers after reclaiming the NCAA-leading time at the SWAC Championships with a blistering 12.64, matching the fastest time in the country this season. Alase's mark also ranks No. 8 in the world this year. Throughout the outdoor campaign, she and Kentucky's Emmi Scales have traded the nation's top time, with Scales later equaling Alase's mark at the SEC Championships.
 
Hankton continues to build on an impressive freshman season in the 400-meter hurdles. She qualified for the NCAA East Regional after posting a personal-best 58.41 at the LSU Alumni Gold, ranking 41st in the East Region. Hankton has lowered her time by more than three seconds since the opening meet of the season and earned a bronze-medal finish at the SWAC Championships. She is scheduled to compete at 8:20 p.m. on May 28 in heat four.
 
Fowler and Smith will compete in the high jump on May 29 beginning at 2 p.m., with both athletes assigned to flight one.
 
Fowler, a freshman, secured his NCAA berth after clearing 2.12m (6-11.5) to earn silver at the SWAC Championships. His mark ranks tied for 33rd in the East Region and sixth among freshmen nationally.
 
Smith advances to the NCAA East Regional for the third time in his career after earning All-America honorable mention recognition at last season's NCAA Championships. The senior cleared 2.14m (7-0.25) at the Louisiana Classic earlier this season and owns a career-best mark of 2.18m (7-1.75), achieved at the 2025 NCAA East Regional, the 2025 LSU Alumni Gold and the 2024 SWAC Championships.

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