The Book: 2003-04 Track & Field

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While their own track and field undergoes earth moving changes the Ragin Cajuns continue their season away from home.

BATON ROUGE -- LSU's national champion track and field team opens it's outdoor home schedule this weekend when it welcomes 41 teams from though out the country to Bernie Moore Track Stadium for the LSU Tiger Relays.

The two-day meet will run Friday through Saturday, with action in the field events beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday and noon on Saturday. Running events will follow on both days at 4:30 p.m. and noon, respectively.

Top teams slated to compete include Houston, Ole Miss, Illinois and Japan's national sprint team. In-state competitors include Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, New Orleans, Northwestern State, Southeastern, Southern, Tulane, UL-Lafayette, UL-Monroe and Xavier.

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I had some questions about the hammer and discus looking cage outside of the new track construction.

I ran into Harold Landry and a couple of other gentlemen practicing for the Senior Olympics. It seems the hammer and discus cage is temporary as it was laid down a bit crooked. The cement base is indeed portable and actually comes from old McNaspy Track. (DON'T lose it, a collectors item)

One of the guys practicing (Romero no picture) was a cut or two short of making the real Olympics.

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Harold Romero

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The disk is in flight, the dark spot over the track lighting.

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BATON ROUGE — The jumping events were good ones for Louisiana’s men’s track and field squad Saturday at the annual LSU Alumni Gold meet — especially those on the track.

The Cajun men took first places in both of the barrier events, with Lawrence Leben grabbing top honors in the 110-meter hurdles and Walter Whitfield leading a quartet of Cajun place winners in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

Whitfield bettered his own season best and Sun Belt Conference best time by nearly 13 seconds in winning the steeplechase with a 9:12.53 time, winning by almost 25 seconds over Asbel Ngetich of Southeastern Louisiana.

His time was just over four seconds off the NCAA Regional qualifying mark (9:08.15).

Teammates Ryan Dupree (10:08.90), D.J. Hebert (10:13.84) and Ben Schexnayder (10:27.68) were sixth, seventh and eighth respectively to give the Cajuns four of the top eight finishers in the event.

Leben bettered his season best with his winning 14.05 time in the 110-meter event, finishing in a dead heat with Houston’s Andrew Carruthers and improving on his NCAA Regional qualifying mark.

The jumps were also good in the field for the men’s squad, with Lawrence Willis finishing second in the triple jump (52-4 1/2) and ninth in the long jump (24-3 1/2), the latter of which was good enough to rank him second in the Sun Belt this season. Leben (47-11) and Kenny Minton (47-6 1/2) were sixth and seventh in the triple jump.

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Willis, Whitfield propel Cajun men to third-place standing

DENTON, Texas — Lawrence Willis finished off the toughest part of his long jump-triple jump double here Saturday, and he and Walter Whitfield helped boost Louisiana into third place in the men’s division of the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Willis captured the men’s long jump with a season-best 25-1 3/4 effort, a mark good enough to qualify him for the NCAA Regional Championships and give him a narrow win over Arkansas-Little Rock’s James Lundberg (24-10 1/2). His jump was the best in the Sun Belt this season and easily topped the NCAA regional qualifying mark of 24-1.

Willis is a prohibitive favorite to claim the triple jump in today’s final day of the league meet, matching the double he posted in the Sun Belt indoor meet in March. He has a best of 55-1 in the triple jump, the nation’s second-best mark and six feet ahead of his nearest conference competitor.

“My coaches helped me get motivated today,” Willis said. “I’ve been working mostly on the triple this year, but I got a lot of support from them and my teammates today.”

Willis wasn’t the only Cajun winner on Saturday, with Walter Whitfield running away in the final lap to claim the 3000-meter steeplechase title with a 9:25.20 time. His mark was over nine seconds ahead of runner-up Daniel Roberts of Western Kentucky.

“The whole season led up to this,” Whitfield said. “This has been my goal since I came into the conference. There were a lot of great competitors out there, and that helps you push it.”

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Men’s Standings (after six events)

rank	Team	Points
1	Arkansas State	63
2	Western Kentucky	57
3	Louisiana	33
4	North Texas	27
5	Arkansas-Little Rock	20
6	Middle Tennessee	20
7	South Alabama	6
8	New Orleans	4
9	Florida International	4

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Louisiana will send five representatives to LSU's Bernie Moore Track Stadium

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's and women's track and field teams are preparing for the NCAA Mideast Regional meet May 28-29 being held here at LSU's Bernie Moore Track Stadium. UL Lafayette will have five athletes competing in five different events for a berth in the NCAA Championships.

Lawrence Leben and Jarvis Murchison will open the Cajuns competition on Friday. Leben will compete in the 110-meter hurdles at 5:15 p.m. followed by Murchison taking part in the 100-meter dash at 6:15 p.m.

Leben is the lone Cajun who will be participating in two events as he joins fellow senior Lawrence Willis in the triple jump at 6 p.m. Saturday

Willis, a fourth-place finisher at the NCAA National Championships last year, is coming off a spectacular finish at the Sun Belt Conference championships. He picked up his third consecutive Sun Belt outdoor triple jump title with a mark of 53-06.50 that won the event by over three feet.

Earlier in the season, Willis set his personal best distance of 55-01.00 to place second overall in the triple jump competition at the Texas Relays. The mark ranks as the second longest triple jump recorded in school history trailing only Ndabe Mdhlongwa's distance of 55-09.25 set in 1996 and qualified him for this weekend's meet.

Leben finished runner-up to Willis in the triple jump at the SBC meet, second in the 110-meter hurdles, and third in the 400-meter hurdles. Leben recorded personal best marks of 49-11 in the triple and 13.93 in the 110-meter hurdles.

Walter Whitfield rounds out the Cajuns entries on the men's side as he competes in the steeplechase at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Whitfield captured both the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:25.20 and the 5,000-meter in 15:29.13 to give the Cajuns two titles in the distance races at the Sun Belt meet.

The Louisiana women will be represented by senior Amanda Caffey. Caffey, the 2004 Sun Belt Conference javelin champion, will be throwing at 3 p.m. Saturday. Caffey gave the women's team its first event individual title at a Sun Belt meet in three years with a first place mark of 145-8 in the javelin competition.

The top five individuals and top three relay teams in the events will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which will be held June 9-12 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Live updates will be available on-line at www.lsusports.net and a full recap with results will be available after each day is complete.

Tickets can be purchased online, in person, or on the phone at 225-578-2184 or toll free at 1-800-960-8587. Two-day reserved seating is $20 while one-day general admission is $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. The LSU Athletic Ticket Office is located on the first floor of the Administration building.

LOUISIANA SI

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LOUISIANA's SCHEDULE AT NCAA MIDEAST REGIONAL TRACK MEET

Friday, May 28
5:15 p.m. - Men's 110-meter hurdles - Lawrence Leben
6:15 p.m. - Men's 100-meter dash - Jarvis Murchison

Saturday, May 29
3 p.m. - Women's Javelin - Amanda Caffey
6 p.m. - Men's Triple Jump - Lawrence Leben and Lawrence Willis
7:30 p.m. - Men's Steeplechase - Walter Whitfield

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2004 NCAA Mideast Regional Tourney Central

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns track and field team began competition at the NCAA Mideast Regional here at Bernie Moore Track Stadium as Lawrence Leben and Jarvis Murchison took the field Friday evening.

Leben ran the 110-meter hurdles and finished 11th in 13.99. The Port Barre native came within hundredths of seconds from qualifying for the finals - Southern Illinois' Emmanuel Daux was the final qualifier at 13.97 in ninth place.

Leben still has one more shot at earning a berth to the NCAA National Championships as he and fellow senior Lawrence Willis will compete in the triple jump at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Jarvis Murchison saw his season come to a close after finishing 18th in the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash. Murchison finished the prelims in 10.51 and was nine spots behind the final qualifier.

The Mideast Regional comes to a close tomorrow with three other Cajuns taking the field.

Willis joins Leben in the triple jump at 6 p.m., Walter Whitfield competes in the steeplechase at 7:30 p.m. and Amanda Caffey, the Cajuns lone women's entry, will throw the javelin at 3 p.m.

The top five individuals in each event, plus six "wild card" qualifiers in each event across the four regions, will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which will be held June 9-12 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Live updates will be available on-line at www.lsusports.net and a full recap with results will be available after each day is complete.

LOUISIANA SI

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RESULTS

LOUISIANA AT NCAA MIDEAST REGIONAL MEET
Friday, May 28
Men’s 110-meter hurdles - Lawrence Leben - 11th in 13.99
Men’s 100-meter dash - Jarvis Murchison - 18th in 10.51

Saturday, May 29
Women’s Javelin - Amanda Caffey - 11th at 40.80m, 133-10
Men’s Triple Jump - Lawrence Willis - 5th at 16.20m, 53-01.75
Lawrence Leben - 19th at 14.45m, 47-05.00
Men’s Steeplechase - Walter Whitfield - 15th at 9:29.90