BATON ROUGE – Jasmine Manuel’s outdoor debut, another strong showing by Mayme Cook in the javelin throw and a select number of athletes qualifying for the finals in the running events highlighted the Ragin’ Cajuns Track and Field team’s performance on Day 1 of the LSU Relays at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
Manuel was the top collegian in the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.17m/20-3 which was one foot higher than the next collegian. The outing marked the first time she participated in a meet since placing fourth in the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Manuel walked away from the event by easily surpassing her previous outdoor long jump best of 5.75m/18-10 ½ set at the 2011 Cole-Lancon Invitational in Lafayette. The mark also eclipsed her overall personal best of 6.10m/20-0 ¼ recorded at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships this season.
Cook collected a Top 5 finish in the women’s javelin throw for the third straight meet. He mark of 45.52m/149-4 placed her second in the event. The Notre Dame High of Crowley product reached a distance of 140-plus feet for the third time in her debut campaign.
In the women’s 4x100 meter relay preliminaries the Cajuns squad of Morgan Breaux, Alexis Malone, Stacy Imagbe and Jasmin Fusilier posted the second-fastest time clocking in at 46.82 seconds. They’ll compete in the finals at 1 p.m., on Saturday.
The Cajuns delegation in the men’s 4x100 meter relay also qualified for Saturday’s championship round with a time of 41.51 seconds which placed eighth in the preliminaries. The group consisted of DeMarcus Runnels, Joshua Sigler, Justin Jones and Antoine Jackson.
Kacey Elphage is set to take part in the finals of the women’s 100 meter hurdles on Saturday after she clocked in at 14.01 seconds, the second-fastest time in the event. She ran the exact same time as former Cajuns standout Jasmine Anderson.
Keyondrick Boykins stepped onto the outdoor track for the first time this season and qualified for the men’s 110 meter hurdle finals with a time of 14.77 seconds. The time marked a personal best for Boykins, topping the time of 15.05 seconds set at last season’s Sun Belt Outdoor Championships.
The Cajuns duo of Alexis Malone and Morgan Breaux ran the women’s 100 meter dash in 12.14 and 12.16 seconds, respectively, and that has them taking part in the finals on Saturday at 3:20 p.m.
Zach France bested all athletes from the state of Louisiana in the men’s 5,000 meter run. He placed fifth by finishing the trek in 15:16.67.
Petrona Layne’s personal best time of 4:35.44 in the women’s 1,500 meter run landed her a fourth place finish. She bested her previous mark of 4:47.23 at last season’s SBC meet.
Tyler Guidry took over the team lead in the men’s hammer throw as his recorded distance of 53.59m/175-10 placed him eighth in the event and surpassed Jacob Fontenot’s mark of 53.55m/175-8 at the Louisiana Classics last weekend.
Championship Saturday at the LSU Relays will heat up at 1 p.m., following the opening ceremony at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium. The second day of competition also features a morning session that will kick off at 9 a.m. with the field events, followed by the first events on the track at 9:30 a.m. "Kids Day" is set to begin at noon CDT and will run through 2 p.m. at the stadium.
MEN’S PERFORMANCE LIST
4X100 Meter Relay
DeMarcus Runnels, Joshua Sigler, Justin Jones, Antoine Jackson (8) 41.51
110 Meter Hurdles
Keyondrick Boykins (4) 14.77
Sander Maes (11) 15.32
100 Meter Dash
Justin Jones (11) 10.72
Sander Maes (47) 11.29
Micah Thomas (58) 11.59
1600 Sprint Medley
Willie Allen, Micah Thomas, Antoine Jackson, Michael van AsWegen (8) 3:32.92
5000 Meter Run
Zach France (5) 15:16.67
Patrick Spiller (22) 16:58.30
Hammer Throw
Tyler Guidry (8) 53.59m/175-10
Jacob Fontenot (9) 52.89m/173-6
Long Jump
Micah Thomas (8) 6.91m/22-8
Joshua Sigler (15) 6.77m/22-2 ½
Sander Maes (19) 6.65m/21-10
WOMEN’S PERFORMANCE LIST
4X100 Meter Relay
Morgan Breaux, Alexis Malone, Stacy Imagbe, Jasmin Fusilier (2) 46.82
100 Meter Hurdles
Kacey Elphage (2) 14.01
100 Meter Dash
Alexis Malone (5) 12.14
Morgan Breaux (6) 12.16
5000 Meter Run
Michon Meche (16) 20:18.04
1500 Meter Run
Petrona Layne (4) 4:35.44
Hammer Throw
Brittany Blunt (10) 49.24m/161-6
Ashlee McElroy (23) 29.05m/95-4
Long Jump
Jasmine Manuel (2) 6.17m/20-3
Jasmin Fusilier (10) 5.49m/18-0 ¼
Javelin Throw
Mayme Cook (2) 45.52m.149-4
Kirsten Meche (9) 39.42m/129-4
Amber Sharp (10) 38.20m/125-4
Shot Put
Brandi Frank (14) 11.98m/39-3 ¾
Asja Whitmore (15) 11.51m/37-9 ¼