AUSTIN, Texas – The Ragin’ Cajuns Men’s and Women’s Track and Field team saw the outdoor season debut of key competitors and posted a handful of Top 5 finishes during their stay at the 85th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays held over the weekend at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the University of Texas campus.
Indoor All-Americans Albert Fournette, Jasmine Manuel and Chris Roy each made their outdoor campaign debuts in their specialty events. The trio posted a Top 5 finish in one of collegiate track’s premier events.
Manuel, who participated in the long jump last weekend at LSU, made her outdoor season triple jump debut on Friday and turned in a school outdoor record leap of 13.29m/43-7 ¼. That placed her fourth in section A of the triple jump, only seven inches shy of first-place finisher Michelle Jenije of Florida State (13.47m/44-2 ½).
Manuel bested her previous outdoor best of 12.77m/41-10 ¾ set at last season’s Texas relays, a mark which stood as the school outdoor record until Saturday’s performance. Manuel was just shy of her overall personal best of 13.31m/43-8 set at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 10.
Fournette, coming off an NCAA Outdoor Regionals appearance in the shot put, took to the field for the first time this outdoor season and landed a toss of 19.39m/63-7 ½ which shattered his previous outdoor best of 18.07m/59-3 ½ set at the 2011 NCAA East Region Preliminary Round and set a new school outdoor record.
Fournette also eclipsed his career personal best of 19.33m/63-5 which came during the 2012 indoor season at the LSU Twilight on Feb. 17. The New Orleans native has now recorded a distance of 60-plus feet in five consecutive events dating back to the indoor season.
Fournette placed third in section A of the men’s shot put, finishing behind a pair of Texas Longhorns in Jacob Thormaehlen (19.53m/64-1) and Hayden Baillio (19.43m/63-9).
Roy notched a season-best clearance in section A of the men’s pole vault with a clearance of 5.40m/17-8 ½ which surpassed a vault of 5.38m/17-7 ¾ accomplished at the LSU Twilight during the indoor season.
Roy was within a couple of inches of the school outdoor record of 17-10 ¼ which he set at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships during the 2010 season.
Roy was four inches shy of an individual championship at the Texas Relays, finishing four inches behind the trio of Jack Whitt (Oral Roberts), Victor Weirich (BYU) and Cale Simmons (Air Force) who each vaulted 5.50m/18-0 ½.
Kenneth Bellard turned in the Cajuns’ other Top 5 finish at the Texas Relays as he notched a distance of 14.96,/49-1 which placed him fifth in section B of the men’s triple jump.
Kacey Elphage turned in her third time of less than 14 seconds in the women’s 100 meter hurdles as she clocked in at 13.68 seconds in the preliminaries of the event on Friday.
Justin Jones ran the men’s 100 meter dash in 10.54 seconds in the preliminaries which placed him 16th out of 60 runners. He had a near miss on reaching the finals, falling shy of the lowest qualifying time of 10.41 seconds. For Jones, it was his fastest time in the event since the 2010 season (10.51 seconds in Battle of I-10 meet at South Alabama).
Alexis Malone turned in a season-best time in the women’s 100 meter dash preliminaries. Her time of 12.04 seconds eclipsed her time of 12.11 run in the finals of the Louisiana Classics and was her fastest mark in the event since running 12.00 seconds in the 2011 Cole-Lancon Invitational in Lafayette.
Other Cajuns to take part in the 85th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays included Casey Comeaux (men’s javelin), Keyondrick Boykins (men’s 110 meter hurdles), O’Daylon Thibeaux (men’s triple jump), Myles Melancon (men’s shot put), Abi Brown (women’s 400 meter hurdles), Stacy Imagbe (women’s long jump) and Mayme Cook (women’s javelin).
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin’ Cajuns are off for Easter weekend and won’t return to the track until Saturday, April 14 when they travel to Oxford, Miss., for the Mississippi Open hosted by Ole Miss at the Ole Miss Track and Field Complex.
MEN’S PERFORMANCE LIST
Javelin Throw Section B
Casey Comeaux (11) 55.31m/181-5
100 Meter Dash Preliminaries
Justin Jones (16) 10.54
Joshua Sigler (51) 10.99
110 Meter Hurdles Preliminaries
Keyondrick Boykins (20) 14.62
4x100 Meter Relay Preliminaries
Louis Stevens, Joshua Sigler, Justin Jones, Antoine Jackson (26) 42.19
Triple Jump Section B
Kenneth Bellard (5) 14.96m/49-1
Triple Jump Section A
O’Daylon Thibeaux (10) 14.91m/48-11
Shot Put Section B
Myles Melancon (6) 15.92m/52-2 ¾
Pole Vault Section A
Chris Roy (4) 5.40m/17-8 ½
Shot Put Section A
Albert Fournette (3) 19.39m/63-7 ½
WOMEN’S PERFORMANCE LIST
400 Meter Hurdles Preliminaries
Abi Brown (49) 1:04.51
100 Meter Dash Preliminaries
Alexis Malone (50) 12.04
Morgan Breaux (72) 12.30
100 Meter Hurdles Preliminaries
Kacey Elphage (20) 13.68
4x100 Meter Relay Preliminaries
Morgan Breaux, Alexis Malone, Stacy Imagbe, Jasmin Fusilier (28) 47.14
4x400 Meter Relay Preliminaries
Jasmin Fusilier, Krystal Chevis, Stacy Imagbe, Amanda Roberts (30) 3:47.27
Long Jump Section B
Stacy Imagbe (11) 5.51m/18-1
Triple Jump Section A
Jasmine Manuel (4) 13.29m/43-7 ¼
Javelin Throw Section A
Mayme Cook (11) 40.07m/131-5