BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar University's outdoor track and field season is set to resume this week as the Cardinals will split up and compete in two meets. Beginning on Thursday, some of LU's athletes will be at the Texas Relays hosted at the University of Texas, while others will head to Houston to partake in the Victor Lopez Invitational hosted by Rice University. Both meets will end on Saturday.
The Texas Relays are set for a 1 p.m. start when Cecile Bogliolo and Neelie Schiel will throw the javelin. The running events commence at 4:30 p.m. with Bria DeGray and Smith competing in the 400m hurdles. At Rice, the field events start at 9:30 a.m. while the running circuit opens at 2:30 pm.
Thursday marks the Cardinals' first outdoor season meet as LU's last competition was the Southland Conference Indoor Championship. Led by Kayli Johnson, who won gold medals in the 60-meter hurdles, long jump, and triple jump, the women's team claimed second place with 115 points. LU added five more medals, including two from Annabel Hobday as she took bronze in the mile while winning gold in the distance medley relay along with Kayla Smith, Emma Powell, and Cara Inch. Ashton Rainey was the women's 3,000m champion while Mariam Buenanueva Saleme (3,791) and Clemence Varin (3,717) took first and third in the pentathlon.
Meanwhile, the men's team took fifth with 61 points as they were led by gold medal performances from Kenson Tate, who won his third consecutive long jump event, and Freddy Richardson in the men's 3,000m. Richardson also took second in the mile while joining the distance medley relay team of Ethan Ellis, Luke Parker, and Lloyd Sheppard-Brown to win gold. Elijah Jackson took third in the high jump.
A few weeks ago, LU sent its javelin throwers to compete in the McNeese Cowboy Relays "Bob Hayes Challenge" and swept both javelin events. Thomas Knoop (70.15m-230'2.00") was the only competitor to launch his javelin over 200 feet while Schiel, in her first event as a Cardinal, won the women's circuit with 46.21m (151'7.00"). In addition, Bogliolo (45.58m-149'6.00") and Madison Langlinais (42.72m-140'2.00") took second and third in the same event.
Last season, the Cardinals women took third in the conference outdoor title meet while the men were in fifth. LU sent six athletes to the NCAA Regionals while Tate was one of two that would reached the NCAA Outdoor National Championships. Tate also competed in the U.S Olympic Trials along with Chloe Rodriguez and both athletes are back this season for LU.
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