Track & Field Sets 10 Season-Best Marks In Day 2 Of Louisiana Classics

Louisiana Classics Day 2 Results

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana – Freshman Michael Nicholls and junior Alexia Fortenberry won the men's 100-meter hurdles and women's 100-meter hurdles, respectively, as the University of New Orleans track and field team wrapped up play in the Louisiana Classics with another solid overall effort on Saturday at the UL-Lafayette Cajuns Track And Soccer Facility.

Nicholls, who tied the school record in the 110-meter hurdles with a 14.17 last weekend at the John Mithcell Alabama Relays, was one one-hundredth of a second faster in Cajun Country to take sole possession of the school's high-water mark at 14.16. Fortenberry, meanwhile, took home the women's 100-meter hurdles title with a season-best mark of 13.52 seconds. The two hurdling times were two of 10 season-best marks set by the Privateers on Saturday.

On the men's side, junior Michael Batson posted a season-best time of 1:50.08 to finish second in the 800-meter run while junior Jared Robertson and Michael Schwing followed suit in the 1500 with eighth- and 22nd-place times of 4:05.59 and 4:18.85. UNO's other two men's season-best efforts came in relay action as Nicholls, freshman Quintarius Queen, junior Dario Scantlebury and junior Darren Darensburg combined to clock 41.80 in the 4x100 while Darrensburg, Scantlebury, Batson and freshman Marquis Rogers posted a 3:21.55 in the 4x400 relay. Both quartets finished seventh in their respective races.

Joining Fortenberry for the UNO women with season-best marks were the 4x100 relay team, junior Farydah Inoussa in the high jump and freshman Jordan Courtois in the pole vault. Fortenberry teamed with Inoussa, Junior Chelise Brown and JaNai Cameron to finish fourth in the 4x100 with a 46.54 and Inoussa was eighth in the high jump, clearing 1.60 meters. Courtois, meanwhile, finished 10th in the pole vault at 3.50 meters.

Junior Alireza Rafiei led the Privateers in the men's shot put with a toss of 15.24 meters to finish seventh while Scantlebury was 15th in the 400 hurdles at 56.92. Queen led the UNO effort in the 100-meter dash with an 11.10 to finish 27th. Adeola paced the women's team with a third-place showing in the high jump (1.70m) while Callie Willcox was sixth in the 5000 at 19:19.00 and Chelise Brown was ninth in the 100 at 12.06. Senior Rebecca Callaway, meanwhile, headlined the Privateer women in the middle distances, finishing 17th in th e1500 with a time of 5:38.54 and coming in 33rd in the 800 after crossing the finish line with 2:41.67 on the clock.

UNO returns to action on March 30 when the Privateers open participation in the Texas Relays , which is slated to conclude on April 2. From there, the Privateers will play at the McNeese State Invitational on April 9, the Southeastern Invitational on April 16 and the LSU Alumni Gold Meet on April 23 before heading to Hammond, Louisiana, for the Southland Conference Outdoor Championship from May 4-7.