CLINTON, Miss. -- Mississippi College and the Jim Parkman Track at Robinson Hale Stadium will be the places to be Friday and Saturday, April 27-28, as six men's and seven women's teams compete in the 2012 American Southwest Conference Track and Field Championships.

Last season, the UT Tyler men finished second at the ASC Championships to then top-ranked McMurry. 

This year's men's team features several Patriots ranked in the Top 25 of the NCAA Division III performance lists. Tanner Conkel is ranked third in the high-jump with a 6'9.75" mark, while Christian Kearney is 18th in the nation in the triple jump at 47'1".

Buck Thompson is ranked 8th nationally in the duscus at 170'1" and 9th in the shot put with a 53"11.75" toss. In the hammer throw, Chris Stonestreet holds down 14th place with a 183"2 mark and in te javelin, Ed Palencia is 25th at 191'2". 

The championship event begins at 3 p.m. Friday with field events -- hammer throw, shot put, long jump, triple jump -- followed by two long-distance running events at 6 p.m. -- steeplechase and 10,000m run. Saturday's schedule begins with field events at 9 a.m. The track events start at noon. The presentation of conference awards will take place in A.E. Wood Coliseum at approximately 6 p.m.

Texas Lutheran University is two-time defending ASC women's champion (2010, 2011) and lists No. 9 in the April 11 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings.

McMurry University enters its final ASC Track and Field Championship holding a string of 13 straight men's titles (1999-2011) and is No. 1 in the April 11 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings. The War Hawks have also claimed 10 ASC women's crowns (1999-2004, 2006-2009).