The Alabama State women's and men's track teams will open the outdoor track season Saturday at the Southern Miss Invitational.

Both teams are coming off top performances during the indoor season. The Lady Hornets won the women's SWAC title, while the men finished third overall.

“Coming off a successful indoor season, I'm excited about going into the outdoor season,” Alabama State track coach Ritchie Beene said. “I know it's going to be a challenge going into the outdoor season because the bulls' eye is on our back. We have several teams that are going to be gunning for that outdoor championship. We just want to take one meet at a time, one practice at a time and put together a game plan to go out and be successful by the time we get to the outdoor championship in New Orleans.”

The ASU women are the defending conference outdoor track champions.  Kesia Derilus, the outstanding track performer at this year's indoor SWAC Championships, will again be one of the top headliners for the Lady Hornets in the distance events. She finished third in the 5,000-meter run last year and fourth in the 1,500 at the conference event.

The men's track team tied for third at the SWAC Outdoor Championships last season. The 4-x-400 relay team of Delorean Peek, Charles Flewellen, Vincent Butler and Jonathan Franklin which finished second at the SWAC Championships last season, returns intact this season.

Peek and Franklin are the defending conference champions in the 800 meter run and 400 meter run, respectively.

March 12                     Southern Miss Invite                      Hattiesburg, Miss.

March 18-19               Texas Southern Relays                Houston, Texas

April 8-9                       Texas Relays                                  Austin, Texas

April 15-16                  War Eagle Invitational                    Auburn, Ala.

April 23                        Coach “O” Classic                         Troy, Ala.

April 28 –May 1           SWAC Championship                  New Orleans, La.

May 14                          Georgia Tech                                 Atlanta, Ga.

May 26-28                     NCAA Regional                             Bloomington, Ill.