Badeaux Pleased With Cajuns Showing in Outdoor Opener
LAFAYETTE – For Ragin’ Cajuns Track and Field head coach Lon Badeaux, the completion of the annual Louisiana Classics Track Meet at the Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility on Saturday left him feeling good about his squad as the outdoor season kicked off.
“It was a pretty successful day. I thought it would be more knocking the rust off and getting used to outdoor conditions, but it really was the opposite of that,” Badeaux said. “We had a couple really good performances in the high jump and women’s javelin.
“We had three or four performances that are going to get those athletes into the regional championships and rank them high in the conference. It was a very successful day.”
Louisiana claimed two individual titles as Stacy Imagbe took home top honors in the women’s long jump (5.91m/19-4 ¾) and Petrona Layne placed first in the 800 meter run (2:14.83).
Freshman Sander Maes turned in a personal best in the high jump with a height of 2.10m/6-10 ¾ which topped his previous best of 2.09m/6-10 ¼ that claimed him top honors at the Arkansas State Invitational in the indoor season. He was runner-up in the event.
Freshman Mayme Cook, a product Notre Dame High in Crowely, placed fourth in the women’s javelin and topped her performance from last week’s McNeese meet with a distance of 46.58m/152-10. Cook opened the outdoor season with a mark of 43.71m/143-5 at McNeese.
Kacey Elphage clocked in at 13.59 seconds in the women’s 110 meter hurdles to place third in the 19-person field. It marked a significantly improved time from the 14.30 seconds at last week’s McNeese outing.
“Sander picked up where he left off from indoor,” Badeaux remarked. “Mayme Cook who came over from volleyball threw a really good javelin. Kacey Elphage, who red-shirted in indoors, had a good time in the hurdles that will more than likely get her into regionals.
“You want to establish bench marks in your first meet. What you want to do is start there and get better as you get used to outdoor and you get used to conditions. The goal is to be ready when you get to the conference meet.”
Other top performers for the Ragin’ Cajuns included pole vaulter Michael Vani who placed second in his event with a vault of 4.95m/16-2 ¾. Including the indoor season, Vani posted his fourth vault of 4.95m or higher as a Cajun.
The UL tandem of Madalyn Trisler and Tarvia Conway tied for third place in the women’s high jump. They each recorded a height of 1.55m/5-1. Conway tied her outdoor personal best and for Trisler, a freshman, it marked her collegiate debut.
Freshmen Devin Davis and Joshua Sigler posted Top 10 finishes in their outdoor debut in the men’s long jump. Davis placed third with a leap of 7.00m/22-11 ¾ while Sigler came in seventh at 6.66m/21-10 ¼.
Junior Alexis Malone stood out in a field of 38 competitors in the women’s 100 meter dash as her time of 12.11 seconds placed her fifth.
In fields of 16 teams in the 4x400 meter relay, both the Cajuns men and women placed in the Top 10. The women’s grouping of Jasmin Fusilier, Krystal Chevis, Stacy Imagbe, Amanda Roberts clocked in at 3:53.17 and finished fourth. The men’s grouping of Antoine Jackson, DeMarcus Runnels, Willie Allen, Justin Jones registered a time 3:18.71 and finished sixth.
“I was really pleased with the way we came out and performed,” Badeaux said. “There were some spotty performances, but overall it was a very good day.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns are back in action Friday-Saturday, March 23-24 in Baton Rouge as they take part in the LSU Relays at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
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Originally Posted by BarHopper
