The Book Track & Field 2004-05

[DaddyCajun]

Anyone know how we are doing at the SunBelt meet this weekend in New Orleans???


DaddyCajun!!

[NewsCopy]

NEW ORLEANS - When you're young, it's amazing what you can do on just two hours' sleep.

Louisiana senior Kim Octave got that much rest Friday night, participated in UL graduation ceremonies and then scurried here for Saturday competition in the Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Track & Field Championships at Tad Gormley Stadium.

Then, when she got here, Octave turned in a season-best, school-record tying, NCAA qualifying time of 13.88 in the women's 100-meter hurdles preliminaries.

"I didn't think my time would be that good," said Octave, second in her heat and the No. 2 qualifier for today's finals. "I thought it would be a lot worse, because I was so high over the hurdles.

"I knew that was taking time off, so I said I've really got to run between the hurdles. So, to have that time, I'm real excited."

Ciji Brooks of North Texas won the first heat in a time of 13.81, with Octave second, while the second heat victor was Middle Tennessee's Candice Robertson (13.96).

"With the training I've been doing, I thought the 13.8 range was pretty reasonable," said Octave, sporting a new hairdo and color (orange). "At least 13.9. I've been improving every day, so my time is going to drop. It's getting better every day.

"We're doing big things tomorrow. I think I can take at least another 0.3 off my time."

That's not that easy to do, but anything's possible when you've had the kind of day Octave had.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Special day for ULL duo in Sun Belt

Whitfield, Octave receive diplomas, then spark Cajuns

NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana schools are far off the pace after two days of the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Tad Gormley Stadium, but a few Louisiana-Lafayette individuals distinguished themselves Saturday.

Most notably, Walter Whitfield, who had already qualified for the NCAA Regionals, ran away from the field to win the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in a Sun Belt Championship-record time of 9 minutes, 2.63 seconds, and Kim Octave qualified for the regionals with a time of 13.88 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.

Both arrived at the meet at about 3 p.m. after spending the morning in Lafayette receiving their diplomas at graduation.

"It was a special day for Kim and Walter," ULL coach Lance Veazey said. "It was important for them to be able to get their diplomas with their class because they've worked so hard for four years."

Fellow senior Clarissa Johnson qualified for the NCAA long jump with a distance of 19 feet, seven inches.

Two ULL hurdlers qualified for the 110-meter final. Kyle Ward, who had previously qualified for the NCAAs, had the third-fastest time (14.20 seconds) and Luke Moody (14.32) was fifth and qualified for the regionals.

The Arkansas State men are first with 62 points, defending champion and first-day leader Western Kentucky is second with 56, and Middle Tennessee State is third with 26. ULL jumped from seventh to fourth with 24 after the final event, the steeplechase, in which Whitfield's teammate Ryan Dupree finished fourth (9:33.28). New Orleans is eighth with four points.

"I thought it was my race to lose," Whitfield said. "I needed something to focus on so I focused on the meet record and it was good to get it. I hadn't run this event in about six weeks, so it was important to get back into it and use this as a steppingstone."

The rest of the story

By LES EAST
Special to The Advocate

[NewsCopy]

She's got one of the best nicknames among Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns. And she has become one of the best hurdlers in UL track and field history.

Kimballee Octave - a.k.a. "Bubbles" - will settle into the starting blocks in Heat 4 of the women's 100-meter hurdles at 5 p.m. today at the NCAA MidEast Regional hosted by the University of Indiana.

The heat winners plus the next four best times advance to Saturday's finals as Octave attempts to extend a remarkable senior season.

It won't be easy, though. Her 13.88 qualifying time, earned in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships in New Orleans, is matched or bettered by several in a select field.

The leading time of 12.99 is owned by Alabama's Beau Walker, with Kasia Williams of Arkansas next at 13.13. The best clocking in Octave's fourth heat is the 13.21 of Southern Mississippi's Raquel Washington.

"It is tough to run heats against time," Octave said. "I look at those other times, and oh my goodness. But it all boils down to who's best at that moment.

"I was not expecting my last race to go like it did. I was quickly reminded you never know how track and field is."

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Walter Whitfield really isn't worried.

That's not to say that the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun senior won't be in full-blown, pedal to the metal mode by the time the 3000-meter steeplechase begins today at the NCAA MidEast Regional meet at Indiana University.

It's just that he's ready for the outcome.

"I'll just try to enjoy it and have fun," Whitfield said. "The hay is in the barn, so to speak. My legs feel good, and I couldn't be more confident.

"I'm going to treat it like my last college race."

It shouldn't be. Whitfield is in the mix of better times in the event for regionals, which feature two heats against time.

Whitfield is one of four men and two women from UL who qualified for NCAA Regional action, and the only one who had to wait until today to compete.

Jarvis Murchison (100), Kyle Ward and Luke Moody (110 hurdles), Kim Octave (women's 100 hurdles) and Clarissa Johnson (women's long jump) all saw action in Friday's preliminaries.

Whitfield clocked a career-best 8:54.75 steeplechase time in March, then didn't run the event again until setting a Sun Belt Conference record of 9:02.63 on May 14, running virtually unchallenged.

Only Ian Wilkinson's 8:44.28 in 1983 is better than Whitfield's 8:54 in the Cajun record book.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

University of Louisiana hurdler Kyle Ward was selected as Newcomer of the Year and distance ace Walter Whitfield was named in two different events to the 2005 All-Louisiana Collegiate Track and Field Team.

Ward, a 6-foot-3 junior from Dallas, Texas, and a transfer from Alcorn State, was picked in voting for the team by a panel of La. Sports Writers Association members.

He was an NCAA Regional qualifier with a season-best time of 14.01 in the 110-meter hurdles, ranking him fifth on UL's all-time listing, and finished third at the Sun Belt Conference Championships.

Whitfield had the state's best time this season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, posting an 8:54.75 time which ranked him second in school history. He won the Sun Belt outdoor title in the event with an NCAA Regional qualifying mark.

Whitfield, a senior from Chauvin, also ranked third in the state in the 5000-meter run with a 14:50.91 time.

The rest of the story