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If he was fully healthy, Justin Arceneaux might be the man to watch in the sprint events this weekend at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
He might be one to watch, anyway, bad back and all.
"I'll have to wait and see how I feel," said the Northside High product. "It hurts a lot, but I'm going to bear through it."
When his back doesn't flare up, Arceneaux's one of the leaders of a Cajun squad that's hoping to spring at least a couple of surprises when competition begins today at Cajun Track. He's one of two qualifiers from the men's squad for the NCAA Regional meet later this month, having posted a 10.49 time in the 100-meter dash.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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The problem is that those flare-ups are a part of life. Arceneaux has a chronic back problem related to vertebrae in his lower back.
"He knows it's there all the time," said Cajun coach Lance Veazey. "It really can't get any worse, but it's also not going to get a lot better. We've done what we can all year, and we'll just have to see."
Arceneaux only competed in two indoor meets during that winter season, one of them the Sun Belt Indoor Championships where he finished a surprising second in the 55-meter dash. Since then, he's only been in two meets where he's been able to run a full slate of events.
One of those was LSU's Purple & Gold, where he turned in the NCAA-qualifying 10.49 time. It's the fourth fastest time in the Sun Belt entering the league meet which runs through Sunday.
"He's doing all that just on ability," Veazey said. "We haven't been able to do a lot in workouts because we want to save him for the weekends. Usually on Monday and Tuesday, he's pretty much in the training room all the time."
Arceneaux's physical problems date back to high school, when his back negated what could have been a solid junior year at Northside. As a senior, when reasonably healthy, he captured the state Class 4A 100-meter title for the Vikings and ran consistently in the 10.6 range before moving to UL.
"I came to college expecting to lose a lot," Arceneaux said. "I thought it would be a lot different, but I've been able to run faster than I thought."
Arceneaux's always been quick out of the blocks, but he said he's been working on the last 40 meters in order to drop his times. And he said that part of the race is more mental, more technique, than physical, allowing him to work on that segment without causing more back damage.
"There are a lot of technical things I can do at the end of a race that will drop my time dramatically," he said. "I've just got to get to that point."
Arceneaux's weekend will include Saturday qualifying in the 100-meter and possibly an appearance in Saturday's men's long jump final. Sunday, he'll run a leg on UL's 4x100-meter relay squad that will kick off the meet's final session at 6 p.m. The 200-meter probably won't be on his agenda because of the stress involved in that race.
"We've worked a few handoffs and a few zone run-throughs on the relay," Veazey said. "That's about all we've tried to do between keeping him healthy and finals."
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