Three first place finishes on the women’s side and 10 total Top 5 finishes on the men’s side highlighted the day of competition for the Louisiana track and field team on Saturday, Feb. 5 in the Jeff Davis Bank McNeese Indoor Meet held at the McNeese Indoor Recreation Complex.

Louisiana claimed first place finishes in the women’s 3,000-meter run (Michon Meche – 10:20.75), long jump (Jasmine Manuel – 5.78m/18-11 ¾) and triple jump (Tarvia Conway – 11.55m/37-10 ¾).

"We are really moving in the right direction, we are constantly improving, moving up in the rankings and setting up for bigger improvements for the Sun Belt Conference Championships," said interim head coach Paula Ogunbanjo. "The coaching staff is working hard and as a whole we are excited about the direction of the program."

Meche made her 2011 debut and recorded the season-best 3,000 meter time by a Cajun this season. She finished 42 seconds faster than runner-up Brittany Westmorland of South Alabama.

Manuel’s long jump leap of 18-11 ¾ marked her college best, besting her previous mark of 18-9 at the LSU Twilight Invitational last season. Both of Manuel’s distances in the long jump this season have exceeded 18 feet.

Conway, daughter of Olympian and UL great Hollis Conway, claimed an event title for the first time in her young career. Her triple jump leap of 37-10 ¾ was a foot further than last week’s leap of 36-9 ½ at the Houston Invitational.

Ta’Shania Bean turned in a pair of Top 5 finishes. She jumped 17-6 ¼ in the long jump (4th place) and 37-0 ¼ in the triple jump (runner-up to Conway).

In women’s pole vault, Amber Laurent notched her first height of the season. A recorded height of 3.20m/10-6 placed her fourth and marked her college best (previous best was 3.10m/10-2 in last season’s Cole Twilight).

On the men’s side the Cajuns turned in three Top 5 finishes in both the shot put and weight throw. Jacob Domingue (2nd – 53-10 ¼) came in second and was UL’s top performer in the shot put. Garrett Harkless’ toss of 57-1 earned him runner-up honors in the weight throw.

Keyondrick Boykins posted the fastest time of all participants in the 55 meter hurdles prelims, clocking in at 7.72 seconds. He ran 7.79 in the finals and was bested by Southeastern Louisiana’s Abram Taylor (7.73) for top honors.

Zach France led the Cajuns long distance runners in the 1 mile run (7th – 4:37.47) and 3,000-meter run (6th – 9:11.43).

UP NEXT

The final regular season meet of the 2011 indoor season sends Louisiana to the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational. The meet is being held Friday-Saturday, Feb. 11-12 at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex in Clemson, S.C. Action gets underway on Friday at 4 p.m. (CT) with the 60 meter dash trials.

MEN’S PERFORMANCE LIST

200m
Willie Allen (7) 24.63
Shaquelle Cretan (11) 25.05

400m
Shaquelle Cretan (4) 52.12
Willie Allen (11) 53.80

1 mile
Zach France (7) 4:37.47
Patrick Spiller (9) 4:41.51
Juan Rodriguez (10) 4:44.60
Cody Tilley (13) 4:58.33
3000m
Zach France (6) 9:11.43
55m Hurdles
Keyondrick Boykins (2) 7.79
Chris Raborn (4) 8.08

Pole Vault
Jake Renard (8) 4.00m/13-1 ½
Long Jump
Kenneth Bellard (5) 6.64m/21-9 ½
Keyondrick Boykins (6) 6.55m/21-6

Shot Put
Jacob Domingue (2) 16.41m/53-10 ¼
Myles Melancon (4) 15.52m/50-11
Albert Fornette (5)15.16m/49-9
Tyler Guidry (6) 13.86m/45-5 ¾
Donnie Broussard (8) 12.61m/41-4 ½
Chris Raborn (10) 10.69m/35-1
Casey Comeaux (11) 10.30m/33-9 ½
Weight Throw
Garrett Harkless (2) 17.40m/57-1
Jacob Fontenot (3) 16.34m/53-7 ½
Jacob Domingue (5) 15.74m/51-7 ¾
Tyler Guidry (6) 15.54m/51-0
Donnie Broussard (8) 13.97m/45-10
Albert Fornette (9) 13.89m/45-7
Myles Melancon (11) 13.46m/44-2
WOMEN’S PERFORMANCE LIST

200m
Morgan Breaux (17) 28.46
Abi Brown (22) 28.71

400m
Krystal Chevis (7) 1:01.09
Abi Brown (13) 1:03.95
Morgan Breaux (19) 1:05.82
1 mile
Jenna Picou (12) 5:48.21
Michon Meche (15) 6:39.27
3000m
Michon Meche (1) 10:20.75
55m Hurdles
Abi Brown (5) 9.16
Anjel Thompson (7) 10.48

Pole Vault
Amber Laurent (4) 3.20m/10-6
Long Jump
Jasmine Manuel (1) 5.78m/18-11 ¾
Ta’Shania Bean (4) 5.34m/17-6 ¼
Angela Roberts (9) 5.01m/16-5 ¼
Tarvia Conway (10) 4.97m/16-3 ¾
Triple Jump
Tarvia Conway (1) 11.55m/37-10 ¾
Ta’Shania Bean (2) 11.28m/37-0 ¼

Shot Put
Jeri Ann Sills (19) 6.19m/20-3 ¾
Weight Throw
Jeri Ann Sills (17) 9.38m/30-9 ¼