BATON ROUGE — Members of the women’s national championship team and the men’ s outdoor national championship team of LSU dominated the special awards in this year’s All-Louisiana Track and Field team as selected for the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
The team is the final one selected by the Association for the 2001-02 college calendar year. The top three times submitted in each event by the state SIDs are listed below as members of the team, while the Universities nominated special awards and voted on by college SIDs in the state.
Solomon Kandie of Tulane was named the men’s Track Athlete of the Year, while Southeastern Conference overall athlete of the year, Walter Davis of LSU, was named the Field Athlete of the Year. Bennie Brazell of LSU was named the Freshman of the Year, while Louisiana Lafayette’s Lawrence Willis was named Newcomer of the Year.
On the women’s side, LSU’s Muna Lee was the Track Athlete of the Year, with Nicole Toney earning Field Athlete and Newcomer of the Year after transferring from UConn. Helmi Leppanen of Tulane was the Women’s Freshman of the Year.
Pat Henry of LSU was named both the women’s and men’s coach of the year in the state after leading LSU to a women’s indoor national championship and a men’s outdoor championship, which was held on LSU’s home track, the Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
Also earning special note from the LSWA members was longtime Louisiana Lafayette track coach Charles Lancon. The Louisiana native passed away in April 2002 after serving as the head of the Cajuns’ track program since 1969. In Lancon’s tenure, the Cajuns won 17 conference titles and was named the men’s coach of the year by the LSWA, seven times in the last 10 years.
Kandie of Tulane earned All-American honors for the third straight year by finishing third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Kandie won the steeplechase and the 1,500 meters, while finishing second in the 5,000 at the Conference USA Championships.
Indoors, the senior from Nairobi, Kenya, was second in the mile and fifth in the 3,000, while anchoring the winning distance-medley relay.
Davis was the NCAA Champion in the triple and long jumps and also ran the opening leg on the Tigers’ national champion 4×100 meter relay.
Besides his SEC honor, he was also selected National Track and Field Athlete of the Year by the United States Track Coaches Association. He became only the sixth man in NCAA history to win both the long and the triple jumps at the NCAA Championships, while he was the first man to sweep the horizontal jumps in consecutive years at the Penn Relays.
Brazell earned freshman honors by also scoring in three-events in the NCAA Championships. He set the LSU record in the 400-meter hurdles as the runnerup, recording only the second sub-49 in LSU history. He was also a part of LSU relay teams, the winning 4×100 quartet and the third place 4×400 team. His second in the 400-hurdles was the highest in that event since Billy Hardin won the NCAA title in 1964.
ULL’s Willis, a sophomore from Iota, took newcomer honors, jumping a best of 52-9.50 in the triple jump at the LSU Invitational. From there he went on to the title at the Sun Belt Conference Championships with a leap of 50-6.
On the women’s side, sophomore Lee of LSU earned Athlete of the Year honors after winning the indoor 200 meters to help the Tigers to the indoor crown. Her time of 22.82 was the second fastest time in NCAA history. She also finished third in the 60 meters and helped LSU to a third place in the 4×400 relay. She won the SEC indoor titles in the 60 and 200 and the 100 in the outdoor season. At the outdoor championships, she was third in the 100 meters and fourth in the 200.
Toney won both field athlete and newcomer of the year and made an immediate impact for the Lady Tigers, winning the NCAA indoor triple jump title. In the outdoor campaign, she was the SEC and Pen Relays champ in the triple jump and finished fifth in the event at the NCAA outdoors.
Tulane’s Leppanen, from Finland, was the Lady Wave’s only NCAA outdoor qualifier where she finished 15th in the javelin. She set school records in the javelin and heptathlon during her debut year, while also posting the second best shot put in school history. She captured the Conference USA javelin title.
Coach Henry with his two titles in 2002 upped his career total to 23 as his ladies won their first indoor title since 1997 and the men won for the first time outdoors since 1990. He now has the second most national titles of any coach in any sport in the NCAA as Henry won both a men’s and women’s title in same year for third time in his career.
2002 All-Louisiana Track and field Team
Presented by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association
Men
100 Hurdles
Brian Johnson, Southern, 10.25
Noel Parnel, LSU, 10.46
Tomas Alexander, La. Tech, 10.49
110-Meter Hurdles
Kevin Charles, La. Lafayette, 14.11 (5-11)
Claston Bernard, LSU, 14.13 (5-11)
Larry Quinney, NW St., 14.23 (4-13)
200 Meters
Kevin Harris, Southern, 20.41
Devin Daniels, Southern, 20.42
Robert Parham, LSU, 20.44
400 Meters
Alleyne Francique, LSU, 44.87 (4-20)
Pete Coley, LSU, 44.89 (5-12)
Marlon Greenswood, LSU, 46.70 (5-18)
400-Meter Hurdles
Bennie Brazell, LSU, 48.80 (5-31)
Lueroy Colquhon, LSU, 48.91 (5-12)
Kevin Charles, La Lafayette, 52.4 (5-13)
800 Meters
Marlon Greenswood, LSU, 1:49.38 (5-10)
Tomario Thomas, LSU, 1:49.68 (4-20)
Clement Abai, Tulane, 1:48.29
1,500 Meters
Phillip Aagaard, Tulane, 3:46.51
Kris Gilmore, McNeese St., 3.47.01 (4-27)
Billy Bohlke, LSU, 3:47.75 (4-13)
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
Solomon Kandie, Tulane, 8:35.30
Erik Emilson, Tulane, 8:51.28
Jonah Chelimo, Northwestern St., 9:12.76 (4-20)
5,000 Meters
Likhaya Dayile, LSU, 14:25.98 (4-4)
Walter Whitfield, La. Lafayette, 14:40.02 (5-12)
Solomon Kandie, Tulane, 14:42.64
10,000 Meters
Likhaya Dayile, LSU, 29:29.01 (3-29)
Noah Murgor, Northwestern St., 32.26.16 (5-10)
Ryan Gallup, LSU, 32:32.13 (5-10)
4X100 Relay
LSU, 38.32 (5-29)
La. Tech, 39.37
Northwestern St., 40.67 (5-12)
4X400 Relay
LSU, 3:02.33 (6-1)
La. Monroe, 3:10.53 (4-5)
Northwestern St, 3:11.21 (5-4)
High Jump
Claston Bernard, LSU, 7-2.25 (5-12)
Cedric Scott, Northwestern St., 6-11.75 (4-5)
Arthur Goodly, McNeese St., 6-10.75 (5-11)
Pole Vault
Daniel Trosclair, LSU, 17-4.75 (4-27)
Cameron Natt, McNeese, 16-00.75 (4-20)
Ben Broussard, LSU, 16-00.75 (4-20)
Long Jump
Walter Davis, LSU, 26-9 (3-30)
Marcus Thomas, LSU, 25-10 (3-16)
Cedric Scott, Northwestern La., 25-03.50 (3-30)
Triple Jump
Walter Davis, LSU, 56-10.75 (5-31)
Marcus Thomas, LSU, 52-11.50 (3-23)
Lawrence Willis, La. Lafayette, 52-9.50 (4-20)
Hammer
Javier Nieto, LSU, 206-8 (4-19)
Matt Vincent, LSU, 164-1 (3-30)
Austin Mumphrey, Southern, 152-4 (5-5)
Shot Put
Matt Vincent, LSU, 55-11.75 (5-11)
Kenneth Ogletree, Grambling St., 55-3.5
Austin Mumphrey, Southern, 53-10.25 (5-5)
Discus
Kristain Rahnu, McNeese St., 174-05 (4-5)
Richard Celestine, Southern, 165-0 (5-5)
William Budro, Northwestern St., 164-11 (5-11)
Javelin
Blake Theriot, LSU, 229-2 (4-13)
Joshua George, La. Lafayette, 222-8 (5-12)
Jeremy Lofton, Northwestern St., 219-09 (5-11)
Decathlon
Claston Bernard, LSU, 8,094 (5-31, 6-1)
Kristian Rahnu, McNeese, 8,081 (5-11, 5-12)
Ben Rogers, La. Lafayette, 6,507 (5-10, 5-11)
Track Athlete of the Year – Solomon Kandie, Tulane
Field Athlete of the Year – Walter Davis, LSU
Freshman of the Year – Bennie Brazell, LSU
Newcomer of the Year – Lawrence Willis, ULL
Coach of the Year – Pat Henry, LSU
Women’s
100 Meters
Muna Lee, LSU, 11.19 (5-12)
Stephanie Durst, LSU, 11.39 (4-20)
Camille Pouncy, Northwestern St., 11.41 (5-12)
100-Meter Hurdles
Lolo Jones, LSU, 12.84 (5-31)
Brittany Littlejohn, Northwestern St., 13.42 (5-12)
Zamyal Jackson, LSU, 13.50 (3-30)
200 Meters
Muna Lee, LSU, 22.82 (6-12)
Stephanie Durst, LSU, 23.46 (4-20)
Asha James, Tulane, 23.55
400 Meters
Ronetta Smith, LSU, 51.62 (6-1)
Marian Burnett, LSU, 54.19 (4-13)
Ayanna Alexander, La. Tech, 55.29
400-Meter Hurdles
Doria Appleberry, LSU, 58.16 (4-13)
Althea Thomas, LSU, 58.71 (5-18)
Ayanna Alexander, La. Tech, 1:00.67
800 Meters
Marian Burnett, LSU, 2:05.52 (3-30)
Carlyne Pradieu, Tulane, 2:10.73
Eva Lustigova, Tulane, 2:11.19
1500 Meters
Katrina Gemmell, Tulane, 4:33.79
Paulina Vondrkova, UNO, 4:35.13 (4-6)
LaTaya Johnson, ULM, 4:35.45 (5-12)
3,000 Steeplechase
Rhonda Sherrer, ULM, 11:16.85 (5-11)
Hamiyade Scipio, Grambling St., 11:17.75
Robin McRobbie, ULM, 11:21.44 (4-27)
5,000 Meters
Sita Waru, McNeese St., 16:53.62 (5-12)
Rhonda Sherrer, ULM, 17.52.86 (5-12)
Jeanne Menard, La. Lafayette, 18:10.63 (5-12)
10,000 Meters
Sita Wamu, McNeese, 34:08.20 (4-19)
Makiko Takei, SLU, 38:31.50 (3-23)
Robin McRobbie, ULM, 38:39.78 (5-10)
4X100 Relay
LSU, 43:06, (5-12)
Northwestern State, 46.06 (3-30)
Tulane, 46.17
4X400 Relay
LSU, 3:35.90 (5-18)
Tulane, 3:46.42
Northwestern St., 3:51.44 (3-16)
High Jump
Jacqueline Canton, Northwestern St., 5-08.50 (4-5)
Emily Rutherford, McNeese, 5-07.00 (4-5)
Amanda Roussel, LSU, 5-7 (5-11)
Pole Vault
Randi Opperman, LSU, 11-5.75 (3-6)
Amanda Caffey, LSU, 10-10 (5-11)
Danielle Moss, Northwestern St., 10-6 (5-4)
Margaret Reaves, LSU, 10-6 (3-30)
Ellen Vollmers, Tulane, 10-6
Long Jump
Andria Booker, LSU, 20-5.75 (5-11)
Nicole Toney, LSU, 20-4.25 (4-19)
Clarissa Johnson, La. Lafayette, 19-11 (4-27)
Triple Jump
Nicole Toney, LSU, 43-7.25 (4-6)
Stephanie Sowell, Northwestern St. 43-0.25 (5-11)
Andria Booker, LSU, 42-7 (4-20)
Hammer
Candice Gonzalez, LSU, 188-1 (4-19)
Mallory McDonald, LSU, 181-9 (4-4)
Temeka Kenebrew, La. Lafayette, 145-4 (5-12)
Shot Put
Melissa Gibbons, Louisiana Tech, 52-2.50
Marich Giante, Louisiana Tech, 49-10
Helmi Leppanen, Tulane, 45-06.50
Javelin
Melissa Febbons, Tulane, 172-3.25
Helmi Leppanen, Tulane, 165-07
Maria Romero, LSU, 153-5 (3-30)
Discus
Melissa Gibbons, Louisiana Tech, 172-3
Mallory McDonald, LSU, 162-9 (3-30)
Jelena Jurlina, Tulane, 162-5
Heptathlon
Hemi Leppanen, Tulane, 4649
Denise Quezaire, Northwestern St., 3,844 (5-11)
Track Athlete of the Year – Muna Lee, LSU
Field Athlete of the Year – Nicole Toney, LSU
Freshman of the Year – Helmi Leppanen, Tulane
Newcomer of the Year – Nicole Toney, LSU
Coach of the Year – Pat Henry, LSU