NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) track & field head coach Shareese Hicks calls her Vaqueros an outdoor team. 
 
Yes, UTRGV has had success competing during the indoor season – including earlier this year, when the women won the first Southland Conference (SLC) Indoor Championship in program history. But living in south Texas, with the eternal sunshine and consistent weather, the Vaqueros thrive when the time comes to run, jump and throw outdoors in the Texas heat. 
 
The Vaqueros are ready to show how tough they are as they take on the 2026 SLC Outdoor Track & Field Championships Thursday through Saturday at Homer Bryce Stadium in Nacogdoches. Fans can watch the action Friday and Saturday on ESPN+ starting at 5 p.m. 
 
UTRGV gets the meet started Thursday morning with field events. Freshman Matic Vidmar will make his conference debut Thursday at 5 p.m. in the men's javelin. Vidmar is currently ranked first in the SLC and 35^th on the NCAA West qualifying list and will look to get the Vaqueros started with a bang. 
 
Thursday's running session will primarily feature preliminary races aside from the 10,000-meter races to close the evening. UTRGV's men's 400-meter hurdles squad has Daniel Siaffa, JaDan Keiler and Jaylen Critton all ranked in the top 10 in the conference heading into the weekend and they'll aim to lock-up finals spots, and therefore points for the team standings, during Thursday's prelims. 
 
Friday's action starts at 12:30 p.m. with field events. Key UTRGV competitors in the field will be La'Zariah Bethany and Efe Latham. Both are heading into the conference meet ranked third in the women's triple jump and shot put, respectively, and scored well in those events in 2025. For Bethany, Friday's competition will be personal, too, as she started her career at hosting Stephen F. Austin before transferring to UTRGV. 
 
The Vaqueros have three student-athletes ranked first in the Southland in track events heading into the conference meet and all three will look to keep their title hopes alive during the preliminary races Friday evening. Freshman Dior Williams will take the track first in the women's 100-meter hurdles prelims. Williams is 18^th in the NCAA West region with her personal and program-best time of 13.28. Jefferson Jean is the top men's 110-meter hurdler in the conference and ranks 42^nd in the NCAA West. He'll have teammates Siaffa, Critton and Keiler pushing him in the prelims and also looking to secure key spots in the hurdles final. 
 
UTRGV's stellar women's 800-meter crew will take the track at 6:45 p.m. N Vanee Anchike, Lilliana Guerrero, Kailey Salazar and Mia Picazo are ranked first, fifth, sixth and ninth in the conference in the event. As an event squad, the quartet was ranked as high as 21^st in the nation midway through the season, and they'll look to have all four advance to finals in the crucial event. 
 
The meet wraps up Saturday starting at 11 a.m. Antwoine Warren, the 2026 SLC indoor Champion in men's high jump, will look to add the outdoor title to his outstanding freshman season at 1 p.m. Warren is ranked second in the SLC and 12^th in the NCAA West at the start of championship week. 
 
Saturday's evening session will be non-stop excitement as the relays and running finals take center stage. UTRGV's women's 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays are second in the conference heading into Saturday's races and will look to score key points as the Vaqueros aim to add the outdoor team title to their indoor trophy. 

Support UTRGV Track & Field | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube