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Track and Field: Manuel’s First Team Honors Highlights Cajuns All-American Trio
Contact: Matt Hebert
LAFAYETTE – Jasmine Manuel received first team All-American honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Monday, highlighting three indoor All-American recipients for the Ragin’ Cajuns Track and Field Program.
Joining Manuel (triple jump) in earning All-American honors for their performance at last weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho, was Albert Fournette (shot put) and Chris Roy (pole vault) who were both second team All-Americans.
The All-American designation capped off a strong indoor season for each athlete. They each broke the UL school indoor record during the season and each picked up the individual championship at the Sun Belt Conference meet in their respective event.
“These three athletes really excelled during the indoor season,” head coach Lon Badeaux said. “They are well deserving of this honor.”
Louisiana’s three All-American honorees marked the second-highest total amongst all Sun Belt Conference schools, one shy of Middle Tennessee’s high-water mark of four. Manuel was one of only two SBC athletes named first team All-American, joining MT’s Ann Dudley (high jump).
Manuel is the first female track athlete at UL to be named an All-American since JoJo Harris (discus) claimed honors in 1994.
Roy picked up his second indoor All-American honor. The Breaux Bridge native was an indoor All-American in 2010. Fournette, an honorable mention outdoor All-American last season, collected his first indoor honor.
Manuel set the school indoor record for the fifth time in the past calendar year and placed fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a triple jump distance of 13.31m/43-8. The senior from Hammond, La., wasn’t very far from collecting a national championship. The winning leap recorded by Kansas’ Andrea Geubelle was 13.67m/44-10 ¼.
Fournette claimed a 12th-place finish in the men’s shot put with a toss of 18.62m/61-1 ¼. He capped off his indoor season with a toss of 60-plus feet for the fourth straight meet.
Roy came in 15th in the men’s pole vault with a recorded height of 5.30m/17-4 ½. His clearance was his second-best vault of the 2012 indoor season, trailing only his school-record 5.38m/17-7 ¾ at the LSU Twilight on Feb. 17.
The Ragin’ Cajuns now turn their attention to the 2012 outdoor season which begins in earnest this weekend as the Cajuns host the Louisiana Classics track meet at the Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility Thursday-Saturday, March 15-17. It will mark the first home meet for first-year head coach and UL alumnus Lon Badeaux.
— Ragin’ Cajuns —
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