Carter, Whitehall claim crowns; Cajuns finish sixth in men’s; eighth in women’s

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Hanoj Carter claimed the men’s 200-meter dash, setting a school-record in the process, while Tristan Whitehall claimed the individual title in the men’s shot put to lead the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns track and field team on the final day of the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Jeryl Brazil (60-meter dash) and Claire Hodges (1-mile run) each set indoor school records in their respective events as Louisiana finished sixth overall in men’s events, while the women’s team bounced back from a disappointing first day to finish tied for eighth.

Texas State claimed the men’s team title with 127.5 points with UT Arlington (113.5) and Arkansas State (102.5) finishing second and third overall. Appalachian State claimed the women’s crown with 101.5 points, edging both Texas State (99.5) and Arkansas State (96) in the standings.

"I thought the men really had a good meet despite not having the depth that we would like," head coach Lon Badeaux said. "We said before that if we had a perfect meet we would have a chance and we did really well with multiple top-3 finishes. We gave up some critical points in just a couple events that cost us from getting in the mix in the end.

"The women’s team had one of the weirdest first days that I ever saw," Badeaux said. "I’m really proud of how they came back today, but it’s been just a very unpredictable year for the women’s team. Overall, I’m proud of the effort and I feel we will be a better outdoor team as we progress through the year."

Carter, who clocked a then school-record time of 21.20 seconds on the same track earlier in the month, crossed the line in 21.10 to claim first-place honors for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Earlier in the day, Carter finished sixth overall in the 60-meter dash where his indoor school-record time (6.75) was broken by Brazil, who finished second overall in the event with a time of 6.70. A third Cajun – Bismarck Ebiweh – qualified for the 60-meter final and finished seventh overall in 6.86.

Whitehall claimed the title in the shot put on his final attempt as he posted a mark of 57 feet, 5 ½ inches to surpass Appalachian State’s Nathan Milch (56-9 ¼). Louisiana earned a pair of top-5 finishes in the men’s heptathlon as Franz Beyer finished second overall (5,252 points) with Angus Sinclair finishing fifth (5,027).

Tyler Hughes earned all-conference honors for Louisiana in the men’s 60-meter hurdles after finishing third overall in 8.02 seconds. Beau Robinson added a sixth-place finish (14:57.65) in the men’s 5,000-meter run for the Ragin’ Cajuns with the men’s 4×400-meter relay team placing eighth (3:26.44).

Dionte Heath posted a mark of 6-4 ¾ in the high jump to finish in a tie for fourth for Louisiana with Sinclair (6-4 ¾) finishing in a tie for eighth. In the triple jump, Ricky Theyard earned an eighth-place finish for the Ragin’ Cajuns after recording a mark of 48-5 ½.

Hodges, who finished fifth overall in the women’s 1-mile run, set an indoor school-record after crossing the finish line in 5:03.25 and breaking the previous mark (5:05.83) set by Analise Zaunbrecher in 2002.

Danielle Castaldi claimed fourth-place in the women’s 800-meter run, posting a time of 2:15.41, with Alena Hrusoci finishing fourth overall in the 400-meter dash (55.98). The duo, who ran the final two legs of the women’s 4×400-meter relay team, teamed wit Kayla Thompson and Hannah Siegmund to help Louisiana earn a sixth-place finish in the event (3:51.04).

Jasmin Fusilier and Kaitlyn Moreau each earned a pair of top-five finishes in the pentathlon for Louisiana with Alexandra Harrell finishing ninth (3,206) and Alex Morrow 12th (3,090). Fusilier, who also recorded a sixth-place performance in the 60-meter hurdles (8.71), finished third overall in the heptathlon with 3,492 points with Moreau, the SBC’s defending champion, finishing fourth with 3,445 points.

In field events, Taylor Walker claimed eighth-place in the women’s triple jump (39-2 ½) with Fusilier finishing ninth (39-1 ¾).