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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mr. Walter Whitfield
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Home Phone: 985-594-2129 At the 2002 Track and Field Conference meet, I was conference runner-up in the 3000m steeplechase and the 5000m run. In the 2002 Cross Country Conference meet, I placed 5th and was on the All-Sun Belt team. In the 2003 Track and Field Conference meet, I was 3rd in the 3000m steeplechase. In the 2004 Sunbelt Indoor Track and Field Championships, I was the runner-up in the 3000m run and third in the 5000m run. Track: Whitfield on the move May 14, 2005 – Bruce Brown When this weekend’s Sun Belt Conference Track & Field Championship concludes at Tad Gormley Stadium, Whitfield will take his dream to the West Coast. His immediate plans include winning today’s 3,000-meter steeplechase and getting as many points as possible for Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns in Sunday’s 5,000. Then, the newly-minted UL graduate will head for Oregon to continue his long-range dream of one day running in the Olympic Games. “I want to go to Oregon State and get my master’s (degree) in exercise physiology,” Whitfield said. “Maybe be a graduate assistant. I’m 12 seconds off the standard B Olympic qualifying mark in the steeplechase, and 18 seconds off the A standard. “I’ve got three years to take 18 seconds off.” The impetus for the move occurred in March, when Whitfield competed in a meet at Stanford University and discovered not only a high level of competition but a supercharged atmosphere for distance runners. It’s something former Cajun Kevin Castille told him about from his training days in Oregon, and something Whitfield saw first-hand this spring. “It was Good Friday,” Whitfield said. “There were 150 runners entered in the 5K and 140 more in the 1,500. It’s a premier distance event. I was in awe.” With a season best of 9:12 in the steeplechase in 2004, Whitfield wanted to test his skills against the best. “I was in the second-to-fastest heat,” he said. “It was right where I needed to be at. After the second lap, nobody passed me up again. I PR’d by 18 seconds. To be able to compete against some of the best in the nation, and then to win, that was great. “That was the race where I realized that I could definitely take it to the next level. It told me I have the talent to hopefully qualify for the Olympic Trials. “I have three years left (until the next Olympics). It couldn’t be at a better time.” Whitfield’s season-best 8:54.75 is more than 30 seconds better than the 9:29.65 of Western Kentucky’s Daniel Roberts, the second-fastest performer in the Sun Belt this season. UL teammate Ryan Dupree is No. 3 at 9:32.62. “I started the steeplechase for summer track between my sophomore and junior year in high school,” Whitfield said. “It was the 2,000 at that level. My summer track coach was big on it. I qualified for Junior Olympics nationals and opted not to go. “Not everybody likes the steeplechase. They kind of fear running it. The 3,000 steeplechase feels like you’ve run a 5K. “You have to be able o hurdle. There’s one every 80 meters, and if you can’t hurdle without losing your pace, it’s too hard to get it back before you have to jump again. I found out I could be successful hurdling, then I worked on getting better in between. “You can’t attack it like you can a regular hurdle, which you can knock over. I’ve gotten tips from (teammates like) Lawrence Leben and Luke Moody, and I do hurdles drills like the hurdlers do.” It also doesn’t hurt to have Cajun assistant coach Timmy Lemaire as his personal mentor. Lemaire was a standout steeplechaser in his days at UL, and his input is valuable. “He’s been there, done that,” Whitfield said. “At this level, you have to have that experience to win over athletes.” The former South Terrebonne star is also good at keeping his focus, especially after running well. “After Stanford, I knew I could run a good time,” he said. “But with a lot of people, when they start to do better they start to forget about the little things. I’ve definitely trained harder. Sometimes Coach Lemaire tells me I need to back off. “I take training more seriously than racing. The races are supposed to be fun.” It’s not unusual for Whitfield to put peddle to the metal in practice, then scale back as soon as it’s over. That intensity has to be tempered. “I don’t bring my problems to the track,” he said. “I did that one time, and had a horrible conference meet. That took points away from my team. “I don’t toot my own horn. I’m very confident. If you’re not confident at this level you won’t succeed. But I let others talk about it. “I want to give the team all the points I can this weekend. And, as a leader, I think it’s important to be vocal. You’ve got to have confidence. If you do, and you have a 1 percent chance, anything is possible. “Lack of confidence is like a disease. We definitely have the talent to win. It’s a matter of stepping up.” Walter Whitfield has little doubt how he’ll perform this weekend. When you have your eye on the Olympics, you don’t spend time reaching for anything short of success. Sun Belt track meet TODAY’S SCHEDULE FIELD EVENT FINALS: 3 p.m. – Women’s Long Jump; 3 p.m. – Women’s Shot Put; 6 p.m. – Men’s Shot Put; 6 p.m. – Men’s Long Jump; 6 p.m. – Women’s Pole Vault; 7 p.m. – Women’s High Jump MULTI-EVENTS Men’s Decathlon Day Two 9 a.m. – 110 Hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin, 1500 Women’s Heptathlon Day Two 9:30 a.m. – Long Jump, Javelin, 800 RUNNING EVENTS TRIALS 6 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles; 6:15 p.m. – Men’s 110 Hurdles; 6:30 p.m. – Women’s 400; 6:45 p.m. – Men’s 400; 7 p.m. – Women’s 100; 7:15 p.m. – Men’s 100; 7:30 p.m. – Women’s 800; 7:45 p.m. – Men’s 800; 8 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles; 8:15 p.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles; 8:30 p.m. – Women’s 200; 8:45 p.m. – Men’s 200 RUNNING EVENTS FINALS 9 p.m. – Women’s 3000 Steeplechase 9:25 p.m. – Men’s 3000 Steeplechase Originally published May 14, 2005 Track: WHITFIELD, CREDEUR TAKE TOP HONORS AT LSU PURPLE TIGER INVITE January 16, 2005 – Freshman Jake Simmons finished second in Men’s 5000 meter BATON ROUGE-Seniors Walter Whitfield and Laura Credeur won the men’s 5000 Freshman Jake Simmons finished second behind Whitfield in the 5000 meter Scott Lowry finished fifth in the men’s pole vault, while Kyle Ward finished The men’s 4×400 meter relay team of Louis Roquemore, Jon Erik Shanklin, “I’m pleased with our performance considering it was the first meet of the Shanklin and Kade Slaughter finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in Derek Richardson finished fifth in the men’s long jump with a distance of 23- “Guys like Walter and Jake have really been working hard and it showed,” Three Cajuns finished in the top 10 of the women’s 400 meter dash. Rose “You never really know what to expect since the athletes have been away on Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns men’s and women’s indoor track teams will return
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