Track & Field: Badeaux Takes Over Track & Field Program

Track & Field: Badeaux Takes Over Track & Field Program

Track & Field: Badeaux Takes Over Track & Field Program

His hiring is pending approval by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors.

A 1996 UL graduate and indoor All-American, Badeaux takes charge of the Cajuns program after spending the previous 12 seasons at Arkansas State, serving as head coach the last four seasons.  

Of the 12 athletic head coaches on staff at UL, there are now currently five alums. Badeaux (’96), Michael (’85) & Stefni (’90) Lotief (softball), Errol Rogers (’95, women’s basketball) and Theo Sliman (’03, men’s golf).

The New Iberia native helped make ASU a formidable force in the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves women finished second and the men third at the 2011 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Badeaux coached 69 Sun Belt Conference champions, 53 regional qualifiers and 19 national qualifiers. Seven student-athletes reached All-American status under his watch, while another competed in the Olympics.

Most recently at the 2011 NCAA Championships, ASU pole vaulter Stephanie Foreman grabbed second team All-American honors by placing 10^th in the nation.

Badeaux also saw 29 school records fall at ASU, including 15 during the 2010-11 season.

"We found the right fit for our track & field and cross country program," said interim UL Athletic Director Scott Farmer. "He fits exactly what we were looking for with a proven record of success as a head coach.

"Lon knows the area as a native of New Iberia, the University as a former student-athlete and he has spent his entire career coaching and competing in the Sun Belt Conference."

Badeaux was part of ASU’s 2006 Men’s Indoor Sun Belt Conference Championship and was serving as interim head coach when student-athlete James Jenkins was named an All-American after an fourth-place finish in the triple jump at the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Badeaux was named runner-up for the 2004 Mondo National Assistant Coach of the Year for jumps and multi-events by the USA Track and Field Coaches for Division I-A. He was also named to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Committee for scheduling.

In addition to ASU’s athletic accomplishments, the Red Wolves track & field and cross country programs had 40 members record a 3.0 or higher GPA during the 2011 spring semester. The ASU women’s cross country team notched a 3.70 GPA, marking the second highest GPA in the country and earning a National All-Academic team award.

A certified USA Track and Field Level II coach, Badeaux received his bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from the University of Louisiana in 1996. He received his master’s degree in exercise science from Arkansas State in 1999.

As a student-athlete at Louisiana, he set the indoor and outdoor records in the pole vault at 17-7 and 17-5, respectively, which stood for 14 years. In 1996, he was awarded All-America status with a third-place finish in the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Badeaux and his wife Amy have one son, Eli.

— Ragin’ Cajuns —