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FRISCO, Texas – The 2013 Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held Friday through Saturday at the Mosier Indoor Complex on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.

The Stephen F. Austin women’s team is in search of its fifth consecutive title and seventh in nine years. On the men’s side, defending champion Texas-San Antonio is no longer a conference member, leaving the championship wide open for the men’s nine-team field.

The SFA women’s squad returns senior Lauren Smith, who led all scorers last season with 20 points. The Lake Jackson, Texas, native claimed the championship in the 3,000-meter run with a time 9:57.16 while the Ladyjacks won the 4x400-meter relay in of 3:48.52. Coach Phil Olson was tabbed women’s coach of the year after his squad scored 117.5 points at the championship.

McNeese State senior La’Shantena Rounds looks for back-to-back titles in the weight throw. The Baton Rouge, La., native, won the event with a throw of 60 feet, 10 inches and earned the outstanding field performer while the Cowgirls finished fifth. Rounds has the best mark in the Southland this season with a throw of 62-5.25.

SFA sophomore Brarsheyia Simpson has the best time in the Southland this in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash with a time of 7.54 and 24.10, respectively. Northwestern sophomore Jerrica Tillery leads the Southland in the women’s triple jump after the sophomore jumped 39-10.5 at the LSU Twilight.

Sam Houston’s Lygia Foreman holds the conference’s leading mark in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.79. Freshman teammate Ana Moreno ran the 5,000-meter race in 18:20.72 at the Howie Ryan Invitational to bolster the best mark in the Southland. Bearkat senior Morgan Davis is in search of consecutive titles in the women’s multi-events after claiming the title in 2012.

Oral Roberts junior Lauren McFarland currently holds the best mark in women’s pole vault at 12-11.75.

The SFA men are the last current league member to win an indoor team championship, winning its only indoor title in 2005. This year’s Lumberjack squad returns juniors Cass Brown and Jamal Peden. Brown took home the individual crown in the 400-meter dash in the 2012 championship. The Fort Worth, Texas, native, clocked a time of 46.99, which was second best all-time in championship history. Peden won the triple jump with a distance of 51 feet. The Lumberjacks finished third last season with 85 points. Senior Jon Arthur has notched the best marks in the Southland in the weight throw and shot put after a throws of 62 feet, six inches and 63-1.25, respectively.

McNeese graduate student David Rooney finished the 5,000-meter run in a time of 14:09.14 at the Washington Invitational to notch the conference-best time.

Northwestern State’s Justin Walker owns the best mark in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.80.

Sam Houston State junior Charles White leads the conference in the triple jump with a distance of 51-0.75. White also claims the top spot in the long jump at 24-5.00. Teammate graduate student Matt Johnson was a member of the U.S. Team in last year’s USA vs. Germany Decathlon, will be one of the top contenders in the men's heptathlon.

Conference newcomer Oral Roberts looks to continue its success after transitioning from the Summit League. The Golden Eagle men’s squad won seven titles and finished second four times in the last six years. On the women’s side, ORU claimed six titles and a runner-up finish in the 2010 championship. The men’s team is led by seniors Jeffrey Gibson and Jack Whitt. Gibson, a Freeport, Bahamas, native, has claimed three of the six possible men’s track athlete of the week awards and clocked a conference-best time of 46.55 in the 400-meter dash at the Iowa State Classic. Whitt has earned two men’s field athlete of the week honors this season and owns the conference best mark in the pole vault at 18 feet, 1.75 inches.

Lamar leads the men’s teams in number of indoor track and field championships with six while Northwestern State has four and Stephen F. Austin has one. Only two current Southland schools have claimed titles on the women’s side as Stephen F. Austin has six and Sam Houston State has won two championships.

The championship meet will start Friday with the men’s and women’s multi-events at 8:30 a.m. Select field events will be Friday beginning at noon with the preliminary rounds of running events beginning at 4 p.m. On Saturday, field events resume at 11 a.m. with running-event finals beginning after the opening ceremony at 1 p.m. Team championship trophies and the meet’s top male and female high-point scorer will be presented at approximately 5 p.m.

Admission is $15 for adults for both days and $10 for a single day ticket. Southland students with a valid student ID get in for free while children 13 and under get in for $5.