By: Curtis Ford
GRAMBLING, La. | The Grambling State University men's and women's track and field teams kickoff the 2023 indoor season on Friday at the University of Kentucky in the Rod McCravy Memorial in the Nutter Fieldhouse. This marks the first taste of indoor competition for the Tigers since the 2022 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Indoor Championships.
"I'm extremely excited for the potential of this program," said GSU head track & field coach Lamont Vaughn. "We've got to continue to keep pursuing the process. We've got to join the fight in this conference (SWAC). The only way we do that is we've got to start competing.
Both the GSU men's and women's teams feature veteran talent, alongside new faces eager to show how they can contribute to the success of the track & field program this season.
On the women's side, Dior Nicholson leads the throwing unit. She placed sixth in the shot put during the 2022 SWAC Indoor Championships. Immani McGee and Jordan Wyatt are also expected to contribute for the Lady Tigers.
Ivory Davis returns a wealth of experience in the 60m hurdles. She placed fourth, with a time of 8.85, in last season's championships. GSU also brings back a strong long-distance unit paced by Sharon Laibich who grabbed third in the 1-mile run last season. Mercy Kwambai, Ruth Kibet and Lillian Thuo are also expected to be strong competitors for the Lady Tigers.
For the men, GSU will be relying on a bunch or new, yet talented, athletes to prove themselves with veteran leadership sprinkled in.
"We've got a host of new faces in the sprints, the hurdles and the jumps who we're looking forward to debuting in the Grambling State uniform," said Vaughn.
Among the returners with experience is long-distance runner Mathias Cheboi, who had a strong cross country season for the Tigers. In the long jump, Lawrence Lambert scored a fifth-place finish in last year's championship with a leap of 6.96m.
The Tigers also introduce two new coaches to the fold this season. Tamario Lattin moves from a volunteer role in full assistant position on GSU staff working with the jumpers. Lattin is no stranger to North Louisiana, having been a member of the Louisiana Tech track program.
Erica Cosby also joins the fold, working primarily with the throwers. She comes to Grambling State after spending five seasons as an assistant coach at Cal State LA.
This weekend is especially special for Vaughn as he takes his team to his alma mater to compete.
"I ran at Kentucky from 1993 to 1996 so this meet is very special to me. This is the last meet in their current facility. Me and my teammates opened the building in 1993," said Vaughn. "I wanted to give our athletes an experience against high level competition"
Also competing in the event is Kentucky, Alabama State, Butler, Campbellsville, Cumberlands, Eastern Kentucky, Howard, Kennesaw State, Life University, Midway, northern Kentucky, Oakland, Ohio State, Transylvania, Tulane and Union.
The track meet will be streamed on SEC+. Live results can also be found at https://kentucky.tfresult.com/?mid=5376.
