MOBILE, Ala. ? South Alabama track & field will open its indoor season Friday when the men’s and women’s teams travel to Lake Charles, La., to compete in the 2009 Cowboy Indoor Invite I, hosted by McNeese State.

“This is an early season meet, so it’s a good opportunity to compete and see where we are,” USA head coach Paul Brueske said. “It will help us figure out what events different athletes are going to be strongest in and go from there. There will be some pretty good competition at this meet. We have a young team, and we’re building for the future, so this is the first step.”

USA will be joined in the meet by Louisiana-Lafayette, McNeese State, Northwestern State, Southern Miss, Alcorn State and Grambling.

The men’s team will be led by distance runner Micah Tirop, who was named the 2008 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships Most Outstanding Performer. Tirop captured the 3000m and 5000m at the championships, and earned All-SBC honors in the process.

Sprinter Ahmed Awesu will also look to lead the Jags. Awesu holds the indoor school record in the 55m with a time of 6.26 seconds.  

Louise Faye will lead the Lady Jags into the meet, looking to improve on last season’s All-SBC and NCAA Regional performance in the triple jump. Faye will begin her senior season as the school record-holder in the women’s outdoor (40-11) and indoor triple jump (38-04). She broke her own school record at the 2008 SBC Outdoor Championships with a jump of 12.47m.

Senior Christian Burrell will also look to help lead the Lady Jags, after earning All-SBC honors last season in the hurdles at the 2008 SBC Outdoor Championships. Burrell placed second in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.18 seconds.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).