Nicholls track teams come up with consistent performances in final meet before SLC Championship

The J. Fred Duckett Twilight meet hosted by Rice University in Houston on Saturday provided a sense of equilibrium for members of the Nicholls track teams.

No earth-shattering records were set by the Colonels, but it was still a good day for coach Stefanie Slekis and her squads in the final meet prior to the Southland Conference Championship May 9-11.

“Overall, I think we had a really good meet,” said Slekis. “A lot of people were just a little bit more consistent.”

After competing in the 200-meter dash 100-meter hurdles, and the high jump in last week’s Strawberry Relays, multiple-event women athletes Cherie Neal, Jinte Braas, and Andrea Tirado, competed in the 100-meter hurdles, the long jump, and the javelin in the Houston meet in continued preparation for when they take part in the heptathlon at the conference meet.

In the 100-meter hurdles, Braas had a time of 16.01, while Tirado finished at 18.66.

Braas led the Nicholls contingent in the long jump with a leap of 5.35 meters. Neal’s effort was 5.27, and Tirado 4.99.

Neal had a toss of 32.59 meters in the javelin. Braas had an effort of 30.22, and Tirado 25.21.

Amiya Matthews, whose main event is the javelin, had a throw of 35.29 meters, while Jaycee Fanguy had a toss of 28.54.

“I think we did a good job. I think we had some good consistency. We’re just getting ready to have a heptathlon in three weeks,” said Slekis.

Competing for the first time the 3000-meter steeplechase was Issy Rivault on the women’s side and Ty Frazier for the men.

Rivault had a time of 12:06.02.

“Issy did a good job for her first steeple,” Slekis said. “The wheels really fell off the last 1k, but up until 2k, she looked really, really good. We were pretty excited about it for her first one out there. We think we can shave a good amount of time off the next go.

“We have two more workouts coming up the next two weeks, so will do some more hurdling and stuff. We will get back in the sand pits to get her water pits better, but overall, I think she had a really good debut.”

Frazier’s time was 10:16.78.

“I think he could have been a little bit more aggressive. He played it a little bit more conservative than Issy. He was a little bit more conservative and kind of worked his way up, which I think was good. He said he felt strong and that we could go and be a little more aggressive at the conference meet,” said Slekis.

Other efforts among the women included Sydney Brown in the high jump and in the triple jump. Her leap in the high jump was 1.59 meters. Her triple jump was 11.47 meters.

Nia Maye had a time of 12.55 in the women’s 100 meters and 2604 in the 200 meters.

Mounie Pickens had a time of 1:05.08 in the 400 meters.

Maria Nikolaou finished first among Nicholls runners in the 800 meters in a time of 2:19.04, and in the 1500 in a time of 4:49.16.

Running the 5K for the first time, Kassidy Besson had a time of 18:10.39 and Sophia Harrison 18:23.94. It was a personal record for both runners.

Danya Satterfield had a time of 14:69 in the 100-meter hurdles, and 1:16.25 in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles.

Along with the javelin, Matthew had an effort of 10:75 meters in the shot put.

Maggie Portier had a toss of 29.30 in the discus. She also had a throw of 10.65 in the shot put.

“Maggie, our shot putter, she threw a pretty big (personal record) for herself. She’s getting close to that 11-meter mark, which is good for her,” said Slekis.

For the men, Amari Godette was tops for Nicholls in both the 100 meter and 200 meters. His time in the 100 was 10.73, and 21.93 in the 200 meters.

Nisaiah Bennett had a time of 49.93 in the 400 meters.

“From what we know of the school record, I think it’s 49.27, so he’s getting real close to that,” Slekis noted.

William Bellina led the Nicholls contingent in the 800 meters in a time of 2:01.06.

In the 1500 meters, Chase Walker led the way in a time of 4:07.44.

Chris Tucker had a leap of 6.90 meters in the triple jump.

“That was a good first jump for him. He’s feeling good about where he’s at and where he’ll be at the championships in three weeks,” Slekis said of Tucker.

Gavin White had a time of 15.98 in the 110-meter hurdles.

Jarred Whitrock tossed the shot put 12.93 meters and the discus 38.54.

Gavin Windham tossed the javelin 46.67 meters.

The Nicholls men’s 4 x 100 relay team of Bennett, Godette, Kahlil Lewis, and Michael Crawford had a time of 41.65.

“We ran the same order we have been running. They fixed one of the handoffs they were working on but had something else come up. That’s the nature of the 4 x 100. They’re still ranked in the top eight in the conference,” Slekis said.

With the Southland meet to be held at the same location at the Rice facility, the Nicholls teams will go into the event familiar with the venue.

“The jump runway, that’s probably the biggest one. Our jumpers all got to be familiar with that,” said Slekis. “Our women’s multis all did the long jump there. They are familiar with the pit and what it feels like. Same thing with other of our athletes.

“You know exactly what it’s going to feel like now. You know exactly what the environment will be like. That I think that’s a really good advantage.”