Nicholls State track and field produced one of the best seasons in school history, boasting many athletes that either tied or broke former school records during the course of the season. Although the season ended for most of the team at the conference championships, head coach Scott Williamson believes that the team has a good foundation on which to build for the future.
“It was a very good start to something that’s going to be a lot bigger in the future,” Williamson said. “We have some things to work on, but we’re setting ourselves up for better things.”
A total of six Colonel athletes are now in the top five track and field athletes of all time at Nicholls, with some holding multiple records. Dominique Harris is in the top five in four categories, the most of any current Nicholls athlete. She is third all-time in the 60 meter dash, third in the 60 meter hurdles, third in the long jump and fourth in the 200 meter dash.
Wongani Phiri is second behind Harris with three records, being fifth all-time in the 800 meter run, fifth all-time in the mile run and fifth all-time in the 3,000 meter run. Stacy Jones and LaTasha Bishop are in two top five of all-time categories each, with Jones fifth in the 5,000 meter run and 10,000 meter run and Bishop fifth in the 60 meter and 400 meter dash. Field athlete Jamie Johnson is in one category as fifth all-time in the shot put.
One of the biggest surprises this season has been the athleticism of freshman field athlete Leslie Bourgeois. Bourgeois, who doubles as a designated player for the Colonels softball team, has set four different records this season throwing the javelin, surpassing Kristy Mire for first all-time in the javelin.
After qualifying for the Junior National Championships later this summer, Bourgeois either won or placed second in every meet in which she competed, eventually getting to the Mid-East regionals in Knoxville, Tenn., where she placed seventh, just missing the cut to make it to the NCAA Championships.
“She’s a phenomenal athlete, and to do what she’s done is exciting,” Williamson said. “Now people are taking notice to the competitive nature that we have as a team.”
Williamson said that besides Bourgeois, Keri Fremin is another athlete that he could see possibly competing in the NCAA Championships.
“She got a lot better as the season went on, but she will get even better very soon,” Williamson said.
Eighteen athletes have already signed under Williamson, and he expects to sign at least two or three more by summer’s end. The list of new recruits ranges from standout high school athletes to junior college regional and national all-Americans, and Williamson looks to be more competitive in more sports starting next year.
“We wanted to fill spots in some of the events we weren’t able to compete in last year, mostly in the relays,” he said. “We definitely have a good group of regional talent.”
Although Nicholls is not nationally ranked in current track and field polls, Williamson said he found it easy to bring athletes to the University that believed in his philosophy and what he was trying to accomplish here.
“It’s surprising because our program is in its early stages, and it’s not guaranteed that we’ll win as a team early,” Williamson said. “But the group we’ve got coming in really believes that they will have an opportunity to flourish as players, and it will help in the future in recruiting more athletes.”
Williamson is expecting to recruit 20 athletes for the upcoming season, and he believes that the program is headed in the right direction. “Our goal is to be more competitive in the conference, and I believe we can do that now,” Williamson said.
