By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline track and field teams will hit the road for Republic County for this year’s NCAA League track meet on Thursday, May 12.
The SES boys look like strong favorites to repeat as league champs, hungry for what would be their second-ever NCAA title but will have to contend with Beloit and the rest of the league nipping at their heels.
All eyes will be on Southeast’s trio of defending individual state champions as Chase Poague, Dylan Sprecker and Jentrie Alderson have yet to claim anything short of first in any of their primary events.
Poague enters this meet with clean sweeps in the 100m dash and both the 110 and 300m hurdles, while Sprecker and Alderson have dominated in runs of every distance from the 400 to the 3200.
On the boy’s side, the Trojans have won five of their seven meets this season including three in a row at Abilene, Beloit, and at home where they faced and breezed past a number of their league opponents already.
This meet will set the tone for a loaded regional on May 20, which will see SES take on some of the toughest competition in the state ahead of the state meet in Wichita on May 28.
Due to inclement weather, Thursday’s events have been moved up with the 3200 now scheduled to begin at 4:30 PM with preliminary races starting at 5:15.
This will also be an opportunity for Trojan athletics to claim a seventh league crown this year after being named NCAA champions in football, boy’s and girl’s cross country and basketball, and earning a share of this year’s league title in baseball.
For continuing coverage of SES track and field throughout the postseason stay tuned to the Salina Post.