Donnie Ourso’s first-place finish in the shot-put headed a list of several Colonel track athletes, who turned in solid performances at the UNO Outdoor Track and Field Invitational Saturday. The event marked the first time this season Nicholls has competed in an outdoor meet.
In all, Nicholls men’s and women’s track teams posted 17 top-ten finishes.
On the men’s side, Ourso led the way, as he threw the shot-put 53’01 to claim first-place in the event.
“It was a great situation because it was the first outdoor meet, and he was coming off an indoor season where he really didn’t throw to his expectations,” Colonel track coach Matt Pantusa said about Ourso, who also finished sixth in the discus with a throw of 137’09.
“It was a good start to the season, and I think he was satisfied with that. I am looking forward to big things out of him.”
For the women, Shayann Crabtree led the way, as she finished in the top-ten in two events; the long jump and the triple jump.
In the long jump, Crabtree tallied fourth with a jump spanning 18’03, while also finishing ninth in the triple jump with a jump of 33’08.
“She did well on the long jump, and she placed in the top 10 in the triple,” Pantusa said. “She came up just about one-inch short of breaking our school record for the long jump.”
Other top finishes for the women included Jocelyn Smart’s ninth place showing in the 100-meter dash, as she clocked in with a time of 13.15.
Besides Smart, Caroline Huldin and Brandy Emerson also finished in the top 10 in their respective events.
Huldin finished ninth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.08, and Emerson tallied eighth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 14:34.20.
In the field events category, Kristy Mire placed fifth in the javelin throw, as she threw for a distance of 124’11.
For the men, Jamaal Jones led the way in the running events, as he recorded a third-place showing in the 200-meter dash to go along with a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash.
“He set our school record, and that’s about two seconds faster than our old school record,” Pantusa said. “He turned in a good performance, and it was good too see someone finally get below 48 seconds (in the 400 meters).”
Other top finishers included Mickael Larson, who notched third in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:59.47, while Farren Clark and Larsson finished sixth and ninth respectively in the 800-meter. Also, Tex Martin recorded a strong finish, as he clocked in at 10:34.23 in the 5,000-meter run, which was good enough for 10th.
In the field events category, Andras Farkas finished fifth in the triple jump, while also tallying seventh in the high jump. Other top finishers included javelin throwers, Cooper Collins and Chip Moore. Collins finished in fourth place with a throw with 177’01, while Moore notched fifth with a toss of 169’03.
In other news, Pantusa said field event competitor Shelly Meaux will be lost for the rest of the season, as she injured her knee competing in intramural play. Pantusa said the injury required her to have surgery on her knee to repair ligaments.
Nicholls next meet will take the team to Hattisburg, Miss., where it will compete in a meet at the University of Southern Mississippi, Saturday.
Crabtree, Farkas, and Larsson will take a separate trip to Texas A&M University, in College Station, Texas, to compete in the heptathlon and decathlon. The event will begin today.
