Track & Field: Six First-Place Finishes Highlight Season Opener For Ragin’ Cajuns

Basic, Stelly set personal-bests in javelin; Cajuns host Louisiana Classics beginning Friday

LAKE CHARLES – Bartul Basic and Hunter Stelly each posted personal-bests in the men’s javelin and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns track and field team opened its outdoor season with six first-place finishes at the Cowboy Relays on Saturday at the McNeese State Track Complex.
 
Jacob Chicola, Craig Rock, Matt Wilson and Damon Guidry joined Basic with first-place finishes on the men’s side for Louisiana with Meredith Driskell claiming first-place honors in the women’s pole vault.
 
"I thought we had a pretty good opening outdoor meet," head coach Lon Badeaux said. "This meet is mainly a meet for our outdoor specific athletes like the javelin and 400-meter hurdles, and I felt like they passed the test rather well.
 
"Bartul Basic and Hunter Stelly both opened with PRs and marks in the javelin that will get them into the (NCAA) regional meet. I felt like the rest of the team competed really well considering we rested most of our better guys on the track, they kept us in the team race despite not being a full squad."
 
Basic, the defending Sun Belt Conference champion, captured the javelin title after posting a personal-best throw of 227 feet, 11 inches. Stelly added a personal-best for the Ragin’ Cajuns, finishing fourth overall (209-8) with freshman Sean Bouzigard finishing seventh (175-11).
 
Jacob Chicola claimed the overall title in the men’s 1,500-meter run, crossing the finish line in 4:03.09 with Rock claiming first-place honors in the men’s 400-meter hurdles (54.71).
 
Louisiana earned a 1-2 finish in the men’s pole vault as Wilson cleared the bar at 16-0 ¾ with Kyle Baudoin finishing second (15-9). Guidry, a freshman, claimed the overall title in the high jump after finishing at 6-6 ¾ with Landon Carroll (163-3) finishing fourth in the hammer throw, Franz Beyer (21-11 ½) fourth in the long jump and Spencer Nezat fifth in the shot put (48-9 ½).
 
Driskell helped Louisiana to three of the top four finishes in the women’s pole vault posting a mark of 11-9 ¾ to finish first overall. Freshman Kimberly Rushford finished second (11-3 ¾) for the Ragin’ Cajuns with Alexa Johnson finishing fourth (10-10).
 
In the women’s high jump, Lindsay Harmon finished second overall (5-1) for Louisiana with Taylor Walker finishing third in the triple jump (38-2). Tamela Young finished third overall in the shot put for the Ragin’ Cajuns (42-11 ¾) with Amie Leitko finishing fifth in the discus (136-2) and seventh in the hammer throw (145-6). Freshman Claire Meyers earned a third-place finish in the javelin for Louisiana (133-0) with Madison Meche following in fourth (126-5).
 
Hailey Hesterman, competing in the women’s 1,500 meters, finished fourth overall for Louisiana (5:01.15) with the women’s 4×100-meter relay team finishing fourth (47.26).
 
Louisiana will return to action on March 17-18 when it hosts the annual Louisiana Classics at the Ragin’ Cajuns Soccer/Track Facility.