Track: Willis wins triple jump indoor title

Bob Heist • bheist@theadvertiser.com • March 1, 2010

Give Lawrence Willis credit for one thing. The former UL All-American sure knows how to crash a party.

Completing what was certainly the most interesting story at the U.S. Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., Willis upset the nation’s triple jump ladder by winning the title with a leap of 55 feet, 3 inches on the last of his six attempts Saturday.

Not bad for a guy who took a year off to heal a minor knee injury and didn’t start track workouts until October. Willis — who trains on his own at UL’s facility in the afternoon following his job with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office — prepped for the national event by attending four college invitationals: two hosted at the University of Houston and two at LSU.

"It didn’t surprise me," Willis said during a phone interview from Albuquerque. "I have faith in my training, and my friends and family in Lafayette and back home in Iota, all the support I get from them, that belief in me drives me.

"I always knew I could be one of the best triple jumpers in America. This is just a great comeback for me."

In a back-and-forth competition with reigning U.S. indoor and outdoor champion Brandon Roulhac, Willis nailed the championship distance on his final attempt. He led the event after going 54-5 on his third jump, but Roulhac took the lead with a distance of 54-10 on his fifth attempt.

In a star-studded field, two-time Olympian Kenta Bell — who starred in college at Northwestern State — finished fourth at 54-0. Beau Chene native and former LSU All-American Walter Davis, the 2005 outdoor and 2006 indoor world champion, pulled out of the competition.

Former USC All-American Allen Sims, the 2004 U.S. indoor champion, placed third at 54-1.25.

Previously, Willis’ biggest year was 2007 when he finished as the U.S. outdoor runner-up and competed at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan.

Interestingly, Willis has been away from competition in two of the previous four years — 2006 to complete degree work at UL and in 2009 for his knee injury. While at UL, Willis placed fourth and third at the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships, respectively.

His next major meet will be the U.S. outdoor meet in June in Des Moines, Iowa.

"This puts a target on your back — I’m the target now," Willis said. "But this does feel great.

"I kind of snuck up on them this year, because no one knew much about what I had been up to. I kind of fell off the radar with USA Track & Field, but I’m back now."