Nicholls women, men track teams show progress in McNeese Indoor Invite

Maria Nikolaou had a noteworthy outing in McNeese Indoor Invite track meet for the Nicholls women’s team, placing second in the 800 meters Friday in Lake Charles.

The Nicholls freshman finished second in a time of 2:17.27 behind first-place finisher Kayla Warner of McNeese, whose winning time was 2:15.48.

“She had a great race. If you know anything about strategy in the 800, her third lap was actually slower than her fourth lap, which kind of shows us that she has a little bit more in the tank. She finished and just said, ‘I could have gone faster,’ it was just a little bit of tactics and how she ran. She had a good, fast heat and she was passing people, which is where she made decisions. It’s exciting to see her close so well, but we know there are a few more seconds in there,” Nicholls coach Stefanie Slekis said.

Another Nicholls freshman, Kassidy Besson placed sixth in a field of 18 competitors in the 800 with a time of 2:26.93.

Among the Nicholls men, junior Lucas Futey finished fourth in a field of 20 runners in the 3000 meters in a time of 8:59.19.

“Luke Futey had a great day in the 3k. He ran 8:59, which on the flat track, they’ll convert him down and he’ll get credit for like 8:53, so a PR (personal record) for him,” Slekis said.

In the women’s 200 meters, senior Nia Maye placed sixth in a field of 41 competitors with a time of 26.51.

Among other Nicholls runners in the 200, Cherie Neal was 10th (27.02), Danya Satterfield 17th (27.53), Mounie Pickens 27th (28.61), Coren Casborn 37th (30.52), and Andrea Tirado 38th (30.85).

Isabelle Seijlhouwer, a freshman, finished fourth among seven competitors in the 600 meters with a time of 1:45.53. Junior Layla Ingalls was fifth (1:45.66), and senior Lauren Graham seventh (1:58.43).

In the women’s 3000, junior Sophia Harrison was fifth in a field of 11 runners with a time of 10:45.59. Issy Rivault, a freshman, was seventh at 11:05.51.

Senior Amiya Matthews finished ninth among 21 competitors in the women’s shot put with a distance of 10.57 meters. Mary Guy, a junior, was 17th (9.42m), and sophomore Maggie Portier placed 19th.

Sydney Brown, a sophomore, placed third in a field of six competitors in the high jump with a distance of 1.60m, and fourth in a field of eight in the triple jump with a leap of 11.13m.

“Sydney Brown had a great day. She’s now No. 6 all-time for Nicholls in both the high jump and triple jump,” said Slekis.

The Nicholls women placed third among six teams in the 4 x 400 Relay with a time of 4:14.32. The team consisted of Nikolaou, Maye, Seijlhouwer, and Ingalls.

Jante Braas and Neal placed second and third, respectively, among four participants in the women’s indoor pentathlon. Braas finished with 3043 points, trailing Morgan Talley of UNAT-McNeese, who won with a total of 3735 points. Neal finished with 2984 points.

The events in the indoor pentathlon include the 55m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, and 800 meters.

Among the Nicholls men, Michael Crawford, a freshman, finished 14th in a field of 32 runners in the 200 meters with a time of 24.19. Junior Jordan Jackson was 18th (24.43), and freshman Kahlil Lewis 20th (24.44).

Nisaiah Bennett, a freshman, placed sixth among 27 runners in the men’s 400 with a time of 53.35. Freshman Kamren Washington was 12th (54.88), freshman Kyshun Webster 14th (55.11), and senior Anthony Landry 17th (56.73).

In the men’s 600 meters, freshman Adam Gautreaux finished 11th in a field of 13 runners with a time of 1:32.59.

Goran Duijesters, a junior, finished sixth among 28 competitors in the men’s 800 meters with a time of 1:59.17. Freshman William Nizzo was 17th (2:03.75), freshman Nick Coonan-Bailey 19th (2:04.86), sophomore William Bellina 20th (2:05.61), freshman Alex Hartline 23rd (2:06.83), senior Wesley O’Neal 25th (2:12.02), and senior Patrick Alleman 27th (2:15.94).

In the men’s shot put, junior Jarred Whitrack placed sixth among 18 competitors with a throw of 13.49m.

Chris Tucker, a junior, placed eighth in the long jump with a distance of 6.17m, and was fourth in the triple jump at 13.31m. Andrei Fuentes, a sophomore, was 10th in the long jump at 5.92, and fifth in the triple jump at 13.06 meters.

Gavin Windham, a sophomore, was 11th among a field of 19 competitors in the long jump with a distance of 5.89m, and freshman Chad Clark was 13th at 5.83m.

Gavin White, a freshman, finished seventh in a field of nine in the triple jump with a leap of 12.35m.

Among 13 teams, the Nicholls A squad placed fourth in the 4 x 400 relay with a time of 3:34.02. The team consisted of Coonan-Bailey, Duijsters, Washington, and Bennett.

The Nicholls B squad finished 11th in a time of 3:47.86. The team included Amari Godette, Crawford, Lewis, and Jackson.

“I think we had a great showing,” Slekis said. “There’s people that had good progress. You had people we opened them up for the first time this season. So just like Sidney, kind of getting the rust off of the first week. They were doing that. So I think we saw their progress.”