THIBODAUX, La – After a few weeks off, the Nicholls State University men's and women's track and field teams will cross state lines for the first time to compete in the Bulldog Invitational hosted by Samford University on Friday, Feb. 13.
The Colonels look to keep their momentum rolling as they have begun the indoor season on fire with strong performances at the LSU Purple Tiger and McNeese Indoor II. The Red & Gray tallied 20 top 10 finishes the last time out.
The 20 great finishes were highlighted by
Iradi Blasco who soared 1.69 meters to win the women's high jump.
Jinte Braas recorded a 5.18m mark to place second in the women's long jump. For the men in the field,
Connor Gil (7.03m), Chad Clark (6.76m), and
Benjamin Rodrigue (6.51m) placed second, fourth, and seventh in the long jump. Rodrigue also soared 13.90m to place fourth in the triple jump.
On the track for the women,
A'Miah Thomas sprinted the 55m race in 7.49 seconds to place second.
Anne De Jong (1:41.07),
Makayla O'Neal (1:44.44) and
Iyauna Vicks (1:49.04) shined in the 600m race as the trio placed second, sixth, and 10th respectively.
Isabelle Seijlhouwer (2:21.24) and
Ana Letran Cartes (2:22.82) placed third and fifth in the 800m race.
Payton Theriot ran the one-mile race in 5:23.23 to finished eighth. In the 3K,
Issy Rivault (10:04.77) and
Kassidy Besson (10:58.91) placed third and fifth. Seijlhouwer, De Jong, Cartes, and O'Neal combined to clock a time of 4:26.45 to finish fourth in the 4x400 relay.
The men's squad had strong performances in the distance races as
William Nizzo (2:02.59) and
Preston Mire (2:03.44) finished fifth and eighth in the 800m race.
William Bellina ran the one-mile race in 4:37.04 to place eighth. Trent Granbery,
Callahan Leahy, Jonell Deuce Scott, and Bellina teamed up to place fifth in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:33.12.
Nicholls head coach
Stefanie Slekis gave her thoughts on the upcoming meet and how it can challenge the teams.
"We're excited to head to Birmingham and compete at an excellent facility against strong competition," Slekis said. We appreciate Samford allowing us to enter the invitational, which features a 5000 for a few of our women to chase not only personal bests but also top 10 all time performers marks."
Slekis also spoke about the team's training and how competing in Birmingham will prepare them for the upcoming Southland Conference Championships at the end of the month.
"Across all of our event groups training has been going well and we are primed for a great showing at this opportunity before returning in 12 days for the conference championship," Slekis said. "Most of our student-athletes will compete in their main event but a few will be going up or down in distance as we finish final preparations for the conference championship."
