The Book CC Track & Field 2007-08

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UL - Louisiana hosted the Louisiana Classics track meet Thursday-Saturday, March 20-22 at the Ragin’ Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility. Two athletes qualified for the NCAA Regional Meet. Highlighting the meet for the Cajuns were freshman Chris Roy, who qualified in the men’s pole vault, and sophomore Stacey Fuller, who qualified in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Senior Ben Leonards broke the school record in the men’s hammer throw. Roy qualified for the NCAA Regional Meet in the pole vault with his mark of 16 feet, 6 3/4 inches. Roy’s mark was good enough to place him first. Fuller placed first in the 400-meter dash with his time of 52 seconds. Fuller beat the NCAA qualifying mark by .51 seconds. Leonards set a new school record in the hammer throw with his mark of 135 feet, 6 inches. The previous record was set at 132 feet, 4 inches by Brett Broudreaux on March 24, 2001. Leonards finished second in the event. Sophomore Roderick Houston placed first in the 200-meter dash with his time of 21.40 seconds, just narrowly missing the NCAA qualifying time. Freshman Brent Adams placed first in the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 4 3/4 inches. Freshman Kenneth Bellard continued to impress with his mark of 21 feet, 7 1/4 inches in the long jump. Speaking of the entire meet, head Coach Steve Silvey said he was impressed with his freshman and was proud of his first place finishers and NCAA qualifiers. “The freshman did a great job,” Silvey said. “Rod Houston did a great job, so did Stacey Fuller, Taryn Simmons, Ben Leonards, Kenneth Bellard, Chris Roy and Brent Adams. Next week we will compete at LSU and will see more competition.” RaginCajuns.com

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UL - Louisiana hosted the Louisiana Classics track meet Thursday-Saturday, March 20-22 at the Ragin’ Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility. For the Lady Cajuns freshman Taryn Simmons tied the school record in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.20. She ties D’Nais Jones, who first set the record on May 12, 1996. Simmons’ time was good enough to place her second. It was Simmon’s first time to compete in the event. Senior Amy Doucet placed first in the javelin throw. Doucet posted a mark of 117 feet in the event. Speaking of both track squads head Coach Steve Silvey said he was impressed with his freshman and was proud of his first place finishers and NCAA qualifiers. “The freshman did a great job,” Silvey said. “Rod Houston did a great job, so did Stacey Fuller, Taryn Simmons, Ben Leonards, Kenneth Bellard, Chris Roy and Brent Adams. Next week we will compete at LSU and will see more competition.” RaginCajuns.com

[BeauCajun]

Fuller placed first in the 400-meter dash with his time of 52 seconds. Fuller beat the NCAA qualifying mark by .51 seconds.

I think somebody had to have messed up a time. 52 seconds wouldn't qualify you for a high scholl regional meet must less an NCAA championship meet.

Edited by BC: The event was actually the 400 meter hurdles not the dash. Same distance as the dash except 10 obstacles thrown in, to make it a little more challenging.

Good job by our Track crew. Track is Back.

[cajun4life]

_ I think somebody had to have messed up a time. 52 seconds wouldn't qualify you for a high scholl regional meet must less an NCAA championship meet.

Edited by BC: The event was actually the 400 meter hurdles not the dash. Same distance as the dash except 10 obstacles thrown in, to make it a little more challenging.

Good job by our Track crew. Track is Back. _

Track is not back yet but is on its way back. We are 4 recruiting classes away from being back and by then if we do not pony up and pay Silvey we will be back to where we were with Lance.

[Cajunrunner]

_ Track is not back yet but is on its way back. We are 4 recruiting classes away from being back and by then if we do not pony up and pay Silvey we will be back to where we were with Lance. _

"Where we were with Lance" is that Veazey was thrown into a situation where he had to mature from being an assistant coach who was "buds" with alot of his athletes to a serious, walk-the-line head coach the day Coach Lancon died.

Not an easy thing for a single, still living life fun, guy like Lance to do.

But I remember the first team practice/meeting we had after Coach Lancon's death. Lance was almost in a daze...he may have been scared.

I was a junior at the time, and the way the season had gone so far, we were probably looking at another 4th or 5th place finish at the Sunbelt Outdoor Championships. Me, personally, I had just choked at Texas Relays about a week before Lancon passed.

But Coaches Lance Veazey, Tim LeMaire, along with the help of one of our throwers' dad lending his aid to the big men, we rallied to finish 2nd at Conference, actually having been presented the 1st place trophy until the scoring officials realized a scoring error, which put us as finishing 1.5 points behind either NT or MT.

Things may not have gone the way the Track & Field backers wanted under Lance. Actually, Tim LeMaire and the distance crew kind of held things together with a Cross Country Conference championship in '04. But Lance showed great leadership in 2002, during one of the darkest times for our team. And let's not forget, the next season, we were hit with another tragedy when one of our teammates, John Melvin, was killed in a motorcycle accident, where a former teammate was injured and in a coma for a month or so.

Then, another former teammate, Ben Rogers, was killed in a car accident in California in 2005.

I think circumstances like that could very well hamper the best of us while trying to lead a group of college athletes.

All that said, though, everything I've heard and read from Coach Silvey has been positive. He appears to be the hard-liner, discipline guy that the program needs right now.

[cajun4life]

You obviously do not know who I am but if you did you would not lecture me about the hardships this program went through after Lancon died. Lance was not prepaired for this job and he did not have the backbone or the support from other coaches to put his foot down and kick some cancers off of the team and pull scholarships. I will not get into bashing Lance because we are pretty good friends.

Silvey will get the ship going int the right direction. It will take 2 or 3 more years but he will get it done then he will leave for a better job.

[Cajunrunner]

_ You obviously do not know who I am but if you did you would not lecture me about the hardships this program went through after Lancon died. Lance was not prepaired for this job and he did not have the backbone or the support from other coaches to put his foot down and kick some cancers off of the team and pull scholarships. I will not get into bashing Lance because we are pretty good friends.

Silvey will get the ship going int the right direction. It will take 2 or 3 more years but he will get it done then he will leave for a better job. _

I don't think I am "lecturing" you.

I agree with you on many points, such as Lance not being ready for the job, but he was the best we could get to replace Lancon at the time since the athletic dept. didn't care to poney up the money for someone else.

I also agree that he did not have the backbone to kick certain cancers off the team and pull scholarships from those who were lazy SOBs. That is the main thing I like about Silvey. I read his "memo" to the team back in August, and believe me, it made me wish I was a few years younger, because I like his style.

Rather than "lecturing" you, I was merely trying to point out that Lance did come through during some very rough times for the team, and our surprise performance at the '02 Outdoor Championships proved that. But like you said, he really wasn't ready for the job. Then again, for $34k/yr., your chances of finding someone better are slim to none.

PM me if you care to introduce who you are. I would honestly like to exchange hellos. But if not, then don't feed me that "you have no idea who I am" line.

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BATON ROUGE - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns track and field teams competed in the LSU Tiger Relays over the weekend. Freshman Kenneth Bellard placed first in the men’s triple jump. Bellard led the Cajuns with his first place finish. Bellard, who has been impressive all season, posted a mark of 47 feet, 11 1/4 inches. Senior Ben Leonard’s throw of 45 feet, 7 inches in the men’s shot put was good enough to earn him a second place finish. He was followed by sophomore Jordan Folse, who finished fourth with a throw of 40 feet, 3 1/2 inches, and sophomore Matt Desormeaux, who placed fifth with a mark of 40 feet, 2 1/4 inches. Folse also placed fifth in the discus with his mark of 130 feet, 2 inches. Senior DJ Hebert finished third in the men’s 5,000-meter run with his time of 16:02.15. Freshman Chris Roy placed third in the men’s pole vault with his mark of 15 feet, 7 inches. Junior Antwyne Zanders placed fifth in the men’s javelin throw with his mark of 133 feet, 1 inch. He was followed by sophomore Joey Wynn who placed sixth with a throw of 119 feet, 1 inch. Sophomore Roderick Houston finished sixth in the men’s 100-meter dash after he posted a time of 10.89 seconds. The Cajuns will next compete in the Texas Relays beginning Wednesday, April 2. The meet will conclude on Saturday, April 5. RaginCajuns.com Heather L Warren

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BATON ROUGE, La.-Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns track and field teams competed in the LSU Tiger Relays over the weekend. Senior Casey Brown placed third overall in the 5,000-meter run. Brown was the top collegiate finisher in the event with her time of 18:48.37. The time was Brown’s career best. Brown’s previous career-best time was 19:06.27, which she set during the 2007 outdoor season. Senior Amy Doucet finished first in section 1 finals of the javelin throw. Doucet recorded a mark of 119 feet. Freshman Jeri Ann Sills placed fourth in the event with a mark of 102 feet. Senior Suzanne Boudreaux placed second in section 2 finals of the 1,500-meter run with her time of 5:06.72. Sophomore Ashley Faulk placed fifth. Freshman Taryn Simmons shined in the 400-meter hurdles. Simmons placed third with her time of 1:02.94. She was followed by junior Lina Futi who placed sixth with a time of 1:05.70. Sophomore Paula Parker finished sixth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:53.32. The 4X400-meter relay team also placed sixth with a time of 3:51.17. Freshman Jasmine Anderson placed sixth in the high jump with her mark of 5 feet, 3 inches. The Cajuns will next compete in the Texas Relays beginning Wednesday, April 2. The meet will conclude on Saturday, April 5. RaginCajuns.com Heather L Warren

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UL's Kenneth Bellard ended the indoor track and field season by placing third in the triple jump with a season-high mark of 48 feet, 10 inches at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships in February. The freshman from Franklin has enjoyed similar success in the outdoor season. After placing second in the long jump and triple jump at the Louisiana Classics on March 22, Bellard posted a first-place finish in the triple jump at last weekend's LSU Tiger Relays in Baton Rouge. His best jump was 47 feet, 11.25 inches. The rest of the story Joshua Parrott jparrott@theadvertiser.com