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Track & Field: Heath, Theyard Claim SBC Titles As Cajuns Finish Third At SBC OutdoorARLINGTON, Texas – Seniors Dionte Heath and Ricky Theyard each claimed titles in their individual events while Hanoj Carter finished second overall in both the men’s 100- and 200-meter to lead the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s track and field team to a third-place finish at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships that concluded on Sunday at Maverick Stadium.
Damon Guidry and Kyle Baudoin each earned fourth-place performances in their respective events as Louisiana posted its best performance at the SBC Outdoor since finishing second overall in 2012. The Ragin’ Cajuns scored 98 points to finish in a tie with Arkansas State with UT Arlington (151) and Texas State (116) claiming the top two spots.
On the women’s side, Taylor Walker added a sixth-place finish in the triple jump with Kayla Thompson finishing seventh in the 200-meter dash as the Ragin’ Cajuns finished 11th overall with 21 points.
Heath, who cleared 6-11 ¾ as a freshman in 2014, posted a mark of 7-2 ½ that equaled the best performance by a Ragin’ Cajun since Ketric Patton in 1997. Heath converted on his final attempt at 6-8 ¼ to advance before clearing 6-10 ¼ on his second attempt. Heath then matched Tiann Steeencamp of Arkansas State on his first attempt at 6-11 ½ before posting a personal-best on his first attempt at 7-0 ½.
Heath was joined in the high jump by Guidry, who added a fourth-place performance in the high jump (6-10 ¼) with Franz Beyer finishing 12th (6-4 ¼). Richard Delphin added a fifth-place finish in the discus for Louisiana with a personal-best throw of 164-5.
Theyard posted a mark of 51-9 ¾ – tied for 37th nationally – on his final attempt to leapfrog past Texas State’s Alvin Chikaeze (51-5) and claim the men’s triple jump. In the men’s pole vault, Baudoin cleared the bar at 15-11 ¾ to finish fourth overall with Matt Wilson finishing seventh (15-11 ¾).
Carter finished second to Arkansas State’s Jaylen Bacon after clocking a time of 10.19 seconds in the 100-meters and 20.67 in the 200. Carter also ran the second leg of the Ragin’ Cajuns 4×100-meter relay team, joining Theyard, Craig Rock and Jeryl Brazil in recording a time of 40.47.
Stanley Limoh added a sixth-place performance in the 800-meter dash (1:52.49) for Louisiana and was ninth in the 1,500-meter run (3:56.23), trailing teammate Matt Rice (3:56.14).
Walker placed sixth overall in the women’s triple jump (40-4) for Louisiana while Amie Leitko finished 14th in the discus (129-11).
In the women’s 200-meter dash, Thompson placed seventh overall (24.19) with Lindsay LaGarde finishing ninth in the 5,000-meter run (18:35.78) and Courtney Broussard 15th in the 1,500 meters (4:57.51).
Louisiana earned a sixth-place finish in the women’s 4×100-meter dash (46.82) and was seventh in the 4×400-meter relay (3:52.22).
The Ragin’ Cajuns will return to action May 25-27 when it competes in the NCAA East Preliminary in Lexington, Ky.
Women’s Final Standings
1. Texas State – 154.5 pts
2. Arkansas State – 118 pts
3. UTA – 103 pts
4. Appalachian State – 94 pts
5. South Alabama – 93.5 pts
6. Coastal Carolina – 71 pts
7. Georgia State – 65 pts
8. Troy – 44 pts
9. Little Rock – 26 pts
10. ULM – 23 pts
11. Louisiana – 21 pts
12. Georgia Southern – 6 pts
Men’s Final Standings
1. UTA – 151 pts
2. Texas State – 116 pts
3. Louisiana – 98 pts
3. Arkansas State – 98 pts
5. South Alabama – 90 pts
6. Coastal Carolina – 80 pts
7. Troy – 63 pts
8. Little Rock – 55 pts
9. Appalachian State – 44 pts
10. ULM – 23 pts
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