Tracking the post UL career of Lawrence Willis

[NewsCopy]

2005 Ex-Cajun standout Lawrence Willis sweeps through long, triple jump.

The University of Louisiana's track and field squads had waited over two seasons to perform in front of their home fans, so Saturday's Louisiana Classics meet was more celebration than home opener.

The opening of the new track facility, in fact, was enough to draw the Ragin' Cajuns' top performer from the past two seasons back for an encore appearance.

Flat jump standout Lawrence Willis, who earned All-America honors in both his junior and senior seasons, swept the men's long and triple jump titles as one of several prominent unattached entries in action Saturday at Cajun Track.

Willis posted a 23-10 mark in his first long-jump effort in nearly a year, and added a winning 51-11 3/4 effort in his triple jump specialty.

"I really haven't been practicing a lot," said Willis. "I haven't long jumped since last year's conference meet. I've been so busy finishing up graduation this spring, that's about all I've been working on."

Willis had a best of 55-1 in the triple jump last season and finished third in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and said he's eyeing some summer meets after his finishes his degree.

"The marks were all right for early in the year," he said. "It's mostly just to keep the feel going. I'll see how it goes the rest of the spring."

Several members of the current Cajun squad have already seen success in the spring, with Scott Lowry and Clarissa Johnson each making it two-for-two in the outdoor season. Lowry followed his winning 16-0 effort last week at the UNO Invitational by capturing the Louisiana Classics men's pole vault at 15-0.

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

Louisiana's Clarissa Johnson finished first in the triple jump and second in the long jump during Louisiana Classics action this weekend.

[NewsCopy]

For two years, Lawrence Willis didn't set foot on a track runway. This weekend, the Iota native and ex-UL track and field standout hopes to continue an unlikely comeback when he participates in the nation's most prestigious track event. Willis will be one of the competitors in the triple jump at the AT&T USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and he'll bear watching after surprising everyone - including himself - back on April 21. That day, competing unattached at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge, Willis sailed to a 54-1 mark in the triple jump on his final attempt of the day. It was good enough for second place behind Leonville native, Beau Chene High product and ex-LSU standout Walter Davis. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[Cajunrunner]

Though Boo Schexnayder was named in TDA today as a possible candidate, he's now got a nice, private coaching job making more than he was making at even LSU, so I highly doubt he's a realistic candidate.

There's Lon Badeaux who is the pole-vault coach at ASU right now. They've been able to win a few indoor and outdoor conference championships lately mostly due to the great pole-vault program he's developed there. I believe he's a former assistance to Coach Lancon.

And there's Steve Silvey, currently at Texas Tech. He used to coach with Coach Veazey at Blinn Ju-Co.

Who ever they hire will have a hell of a job infront of them. A great lack of support from the athletic program over the last 5-7 years has contributed to the current slide in the program.

[DaddyCajun]

_ Though Boo Schexnayder was named in TDA today as a possible candidate, he's now got a nice, private coaching job making more than he was making at even LSU, so I highly doubt he's a realistic candidate.

There's Lon Badeaux who is the pole-vault coach at ASU right now. They've been able to win a few indoor and outdoor conference championships lately mostly due to the great pole-vault program he's developed there. I believe he's a former assistance to Coach Lancon.

And there's Steve Silvey, currently at Texas Tech. He used to coach with Coach Veazey at Blinn Ju-Co.

Who ever they hire will have a hell of a job infront of them. A great lack of support from the athletic program over the last 5-7 years has contributed to the current slide in the program. _

Lon Badeaux and/or Hollis Conway are two that come to mind for me and I would love to see either or both back in the Cajun Track and Field programs!!!

DaddyCajun

[cajun4ever]

US Track and Field Championship

USA indoor men's triple jump champion Aarik Wilson added the outdoor title to his career highlights, jumping 17.06m/55-11.75 (+1.7mps). Lawrence Willis was second with 16.97m/55-8.25, and 2004 Olympian Kenta Bell was third with 16.87m/55-4.25. Defending world champion Walter Davis has a bye into the World Championships.

[NewsCopy]

The only person that expected Lawrence Willis to find success Sunday at the AT&T USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was Lawrence Willis. Training by himself, without the coaching and sponsorship assistance available to most of the other athletes at the national meet, the Iota product and former UL All-American trusted himself and his faith. As it turned out, that was more than enough. Willis shocked the rest of the field in the men's triple jump on Sunday's final day of competition, posting a career-best 55-8 1/4 jump to finish as runner-up in the national championships. His finish, coming after a layoff of almost two years from competition, puts him on the U.S. team for the upcoming Pan American Games and the World Championships. "I'm still kind of in shock," Willis said Monday. "It hasn't really settled in that I'm going to Brazil and Japan in the next two months." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[BlazingBayou]

Lawrence Willis--2005 UL grad and UL Track and Field alum--is competing at the World Track and Field Championships In Osaka, Japan this weekend. Next to the Olympics, this is the most important competition in elite track and field.

For those who don't know, Lawrence is a triple-jumper. He is making a comeback after taking about 1.5 years off working as an EMT at Acadian Ambulance, and his current job as a sheriff's deputy with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department. USAT&F now has his official bio on their website: http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Willis_Lawrence.asp

Lawrence just started back training last fall and qualified for the USATF National Championships. He came into that event ranked about 7th in the nation. His 2nd place finish at the USATF Nationals placed him on the USA World Team. It was also a personal best jump of 16.97m (55'8.25"). Lawrence is is ranked 37th in the world going into Osaka, and has the 4th longest US jump in 2007.

Remarkably, Lawrence has achieved all this in less than a year, while coaching himself and working full-time. He has had very few competition opportunities, because of the cost of travel.

Lawrence has been emailing me from Japan. He is enjoying this incredible experience! Lawrence describes the Osaka track and field stadium as enormous. "You could put the CajunDome inside this one and the CajunDome will still look small. It is like 3 or 4 CajunDomes."

Here's his competition schedule:
Saturday, August 25--qualification jumps for the finals
Monday, August 27--Finals

The Osaka website is: http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/index.html

There will also be daily TV coverage on the Versus Sports Channel. The TV schedule is listed here: http://www.versus.com/nw/article/vie...=true&catID=76

On a personal note, Lawrence is one of the finest young men I know. He has tremendous integrity, an amazing work ethic, and is a very poised and kind fellow. In addition, he has an enormous faith in God and he is very humble about his achievements. And a great smile! If you can't root for Lawrence, who can you root for?!! Go Lawrence!!

[ulforlife]

_ Lawrence Willis--2005 UL grad and UL Track and Field alum--is competing at the World Track and Field Championships In Osaka, Japan this weekend. Next to the Olympics, this is the most important competition in elite track and field.

For those who don't know, Lawrence is a triple-jumper. He is making a comeback after taking about 1.5 years off working as an EMT at Acadian Ambulance, and his current job as a sheriff's deputy with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department. USAT&F now has his official bio on their website: http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Willis_Lawrence.asp

Lawrence just started back training last fall and qualified for the USATF National Championships. He came into that event ranked about 7th in the nation. His 2nd place finish at the USATF Nationals placed him on the USA World Team. It was also a personal best jump of 16.97m (55'8.25"). Lawrence is is ranked 37th in the world going into Osaka, and has the 4th longest US jump in 2007.

Remarkably, Lawrence has achieved all this in less than a year, while coaching himself and working full-time. He has had very few competition opportunities, because of the cost of travel.

Lawrence has been emailing me from Japan. He is enjoying this incredible experience! Lawrence describes the Osaka track and field stadium as enormous. "You could put the CajunDome inside this one and the CajunDome will still look small. It is like 3 or 4 CajunDomes."

Here's his competition schedule:
Saturday, August 25--qualification jumps for the finals
Monday, August 27--Finals

The Osaka website is: http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/index.html

There will also be daily TV coverage on the Versus Sports Channel. The TV schedule is listed here: http://www.versus.com/nw/article/vie...=true&catID=76

On a personal note, Lawrence is one of the finest young men I know. He has tremendous integrity, an amazing work ethic, and is a very poised and kind fellow. In addition, he has an enormous faith in God and he is very humble about his achievements. And a great smile! If you can't root for Lawrence, who can you root for?!! Go Lawrence!! _

this is awesome. thanks for the info and please keep us posted

[NewsCopy]

OSAKA, Japan-Former Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns track and field standout Lawrence Willis is set to compete in the 2007 World Track and Field Championships in Osaka, Japan this weekend. The event is second only to the Olympics for the most important competition in elite track and field. Willis started training last fall and qualified for the USATF National Championships. He came into that event ranked seventh in the nation. His second place finish at the USATF Nationals in the triple jump placed him on the USA World Team. It was also a personal best jump of 16.97m. Willis is ranked 37th in the world going into Osaka, and has the fourth longest US jump in 2007. Willis, a 2005 UL graduate, competed in the triple jump and the long jump while at Louisiana-Lafayette from 2001 through 2005. He is making a comeback after taking a year and a half off to work as an EMT for Acadian Ambulance and his current job as a sheriff’s deputy with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Department. His recent success has all been achieved in less than a year, while coaching himself and working full-time. Willis has had limited competition opportunities, because of the cost of travel. “You could put the Cajundome inside this one and the Cajundome will still look small,” Willis said of the Osaka track and field stadium. “It is like 3 or 4 Cajundomes.” Lawrence Willis' competition schedule: Saturday, August 25 -- qualification jumps for the finals Monday, August 27 -- Finals RaginCajuns.com

[NewsCopy]

Former UL All-American Lawrence Willis has made himself a world class triple jumper, almost on his own. But Willis needs financial help to complete his dream. Willis is seeking funds to enable him to compete in the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore., seeking a spot on the American team for the Beijing Olympics in China set for Aug. 8-24. "I am asking for any donation amount to help pay for my air fare and hotel cost," Willis said. "No donation is too small. The Olympic Trials is a 10-day event. I am expected to stay six days." The rest of the story Bruce Brown • bbrown@theadvertiser.com • June 9, 2008

[CajunDawgPound]

I think the top three at the Olympic Trials make the team. Let's hope that Lawrence can make the grade and do well when they come out of the walls to go after those three spots.

AMERICAN LIST BEFORE THE NCAA REGIONAL MEETS

#1--17.22mtr. 56’ 6” Rafeeq Curry (Shore) FL St Relays 3/29/2008
#2--17.13mtr. (i) 56’ 2 ½” Aarik Wilson (Nik) World Indoor 3/7/2008
#3--17.04mtr. 55’ 11” Kenta Bell (Miz) Rio GP 5/18/2008
#4--16.96mtr. 55’ 7 ¾” Brandon Roulhac (Shore) GaTech Invite 5/17/2008
#5--16.8mtr. 55’ 1 ½ Allen Simms (Miz) Mt SAC 4/20/2008
#6--16.58mtr. (A) 54’ 4 ¾” Shardae Boutte (Ok) Big 12 5/18/2008
#7--16.55mtr. 54’ 3 ¾” Jonathan Jackson (TCU) Penn R Univ 4/26/2008
#8--16.54mtr.(i) 54’ 3 ¼” Nkosinza Balumbu (Ar) NCAA Indoor 3/15/2008
#9--16.53mtr.(i) 54’ 2 ¾” Lawrence Willis (ULL-ex) Bayou Bengal Ind 2/2/2008
i=indoor
(A)= altitude

[Pup]

posted via mobile device
a horse race