University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Maes Paces UL Track on Day One of SBC Track Championships
5/11/2012 11:28:00 PM | Track and Field
Day One Results
Contact: Matt Hebert
LAFAYETTE, La. – Freshman Sander Maes turned in a strong performance on day one of the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships as he sits atop the decathlon leaderboard after five events at the Ragin' Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility.
“With the rain this morning we said we didn't need to do anything great. We just needed to put together some solid performances and wed be ok,” head coach Lon Badeaux said. “That's pretty much what Sander did. He didn't have anything glaring out there, but he got the job done.”
Maes finished the day with 3,823 points after posting a top 3 finish in four of the five events. The freshman is currently 89 points ahead of William Oliver of Arkansas State for the lead, while Westmoreland Gonzales sits in fourth with 3,353 points.
“Sander is going to have a battle tomorrow,” Badeaux added. “Oliver from Arkansas State is pretty good. We were predicted to come away with around six points after the decathlon. If we could come away with 10-plus points that would really help our cause.”
After coming in third in the 100-meter dash, Maes reeled off back-to-back second place finishes in the long jump (22-4 ¼) and shot put (39-0 ½) before coming out on top in the high jump with a mark of 6-9 ¾.
“We tried the same thing with Wes and told him if you just stay in the mix you're going to be ok,” Badeaux stated. “Now he's sitting fourth and he doesn't have any bad events tomorrow. So now he has a chance to finish better than he was predicted to.”
Gonzales' best performance on the day came in the 400-meter dash placing third with a time of 51.05. Maes finished just behind Gonzales with a time of 51.26.
On the women's side, senior Amber Laurent closed out her UL career with a sixth place finish in the pole vault after posting a mark of 10-8 ¼.
“I was excited to see Amber post one of her top finishes despite not having jumped overly high,” Badeaux said. “She has been a great leader and role model for this team. She does everything right and this was a good reward for her today.
“I think our guys are going to do well tomorrow. If we can get some of our key people through to Sunday, we can work to propel ourselves to a shot at the conference championship.”
The Cajuns are back in action tomorrow at 9 a.m. with the decathlon. The field events are slated to start at 12:30 with the women's long jump, while the running events will get underway at 6 p.m. with the prelims of the 110-meter hurdles.
MEN'S PERFORMANCE LIST
Decathlon
Total Points After Day 1
Sander Maes (1) 3,823 points
Wes Gonzales (4) 3,353 points
• 100-Meter Dash
Sander Maes (3) 11.19 – 819 pts
Wes Gonzales (4) 11.30 – 795 pts
• Long Jump
Sander Maes (2) 6.81m/22-4 ¼ – 769 pts
Wes Gonzales (4) 6.30m/20-7 ¾ – 650 pts
• Shot Put
Sander Maes (2) 11.90m/39-0 ½ – 600 pts
Wes Gonzales (9) 10.33m/33-10 ¾ – 505 pts
• High Jump
Sander Maes (1) 2.08m/6-9 ¾ – 878 pts
Wes Gonzales (7) 1.81m/5-11 ¼ – 636 pts
• 400-Meter Dash
Wes Gonzales (3) 51.05 – 767 pts
Sander Maes (4) 51.26 – 757 pts
10,000-meters
Patrick Spiller (13) 37:03.47
WOMEN'S PERFORMANCE LIST
Pole Vault
Amber Laurent (6) 3.26m/10-8 ¼
Mary Clements (11) 2.96m/9-8 ½
Discus
Jana Jones (10) 39.83m/130-8
Brandi Franks (17) 35.17m/115-5
Precious Lollis (18) 31.13m/102-1
10,000-meters
Michon Meche (18) 43:07.97
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