LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Little Rock's school colors may be Maroon and Silver but the Trojans have every intention on wearing gold this week.
That goal comes as the men's and women's track and field programs are heading to Edwardsville, Illinois for the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by SIUE at Ralph Korte Stadium.
ESPN+: THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY
LIVE RESULTS | TICKETS | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | MEET NOTES
The three-day championship event begins Thursday morning at 9 a.m. and concludes Saturday evening with two team champions and 42 individual champions crowned, and a host of others vying for NCAA Preliminary qualifying marks.
On Your Marks…
- Little Rock begins postseason competition this week as the Trojans head to Edwardsville, Illinois for the 2023 OVC Outdoor Championships.
- The Trojans enter this week's competition with both the men and the women projected to finish second in the team scoring.
- A second place finish would mark the best team finish Little Rock's men would've ever recorded at an outdoor championship. Their previous best came with a fifth-place finish on three separate occasions.
- If the season ended today, the Trojans would have four qualifying marks for the NCAA West Prelims with three more on the bubble.
- The Trojans are in their inaugural season as members of the Ohio Valley Conference and found immediate success in the more regionally-balanced league than in their previous home.
Five Things to Know
- Busiest Woman in Birmingham Heads to Edwardsville
Rightfully so, Gabby Ayiteyfio was proclaimed the "Busiest Woman in Birmingham" after competing in nine different "events" - the pentathlon (broken out into five events), the 60m dash (prelims and finals) and the 60m hurdles (prelims and finals). Now she looks to top that. She has the chance to compete in eight different events this week as she is registered to compete in the 100m dash (prelims and possibly finals), 100m hurdles (prelims and possibly finals), 4x100m relay, high jump, long jump and javelin. That means, when you break out the individual attempts, she could have at least 23 attempts in the three-day time span, more if she is successful in the high jump.
- We're Having a Record Year
Little Rock heads to the Land of Lincoln this weekend late in a season where the Trojans are completely rewriting the record books. Entering this week's action, there have been five (three men's, two women's) school records set this year with a combined 58 performers recording marks ranking in the top-10 in school history.
- Atop the Charts
So far this season, Little Rock has set five new school records. The record breaking by the Trojans has happened early and often this season - much like voting in Chicago - with Desmond Frazier breaking the shot put mark (17.08m) in the opening weekend of action on Mar. 18. The following weekend, two records fell with Nicholas Newby running 1:49.47 in the 800m and Jaelyn Tucker jumping 5.88m in the long jump. Then Gabby Ayiteyfio scored a record 5,167 points in the heptathlon on April 14-15.
- Going for Gold
How many gold medals will the Trojans bring back to the Capital City this week? Little Rock enters the championship meet with a Trojan ranked No. 1 in the OVC in 10 different events and several more not far off the top spot. Little Rock claimed six gold medals at the indoor championships - will they surpass that number this week?
- Flavor of the Week
If you're looking for the flavor of the week, it comes in the colors Maroon and Silver and isn't around for very long. That is because Little Rock's Team has claimed an impressive 16 Athlete of the Week honors (by nine different athletes) in the Ohio Valley Conference this outdoor season. That number balloons even more when you include the indoor season, totaling 23 honors. To add to the impressive nature of that stat, in only one week this outdoor season as Little Rock's weekly honors haul been limited to one person. How does that compare? Consider this - you have to go all the way back to the 2008 outdoor season to CUMULATIVELY reach 16 outdoor Athlete of the week honors claimed by Little Rock's Team. In that time span, 2018 netted five honors while the 2016 campaign garnered four.
For the latest information on Little Rock Track & Field, make sure to check out
LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockTFXC on
Facebook,
Instagram and
Twitter.
Get the latest Trojan news – including the weekly Trojan Report – delivered to you direct to your inbox by
signing up for Little Rock Trojan E-News here.
#LittleRocksTeam
