BATON ROUGE — After guiding his Lady Tigers to their 12th NCAA Outdoor track and field title in 14 years, while also guiding his Tigers to a top five finish, LSU head coach Pat Henry swept both the men’s and women’s Louisiana Coach of the Year awards, while his athletes dominated the All-Louisiana awards.
LSU claimed seven out of the nine awards given.
In addition to Henry taking both coaching honors, Derrick Brew of LSU was named Louisiana Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, while teammate Russ Buller claimed Field Athlete of the Year honors. Traun Smith of LSU was named Men’s Freshman of the Year, while Tulane distance All-American Solomon Kandie claimed Louisiana Newcomer of the Year.
On the women’s side, Peta-Gaye Dowdie of LSU was selected Louisiana Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, while teammate Keisha Spencer took home Field Athlete of the Year honors. Paulina Vondrkova of the University of New Orleans garnered Freshman of the Year honors and there was no Newcomer of the Year award presented on the women’s side.
Derrick Brew won his second straight Louisiana Men’s Track Athlete of the Year award after winning the SEC Outdoor title in the 400-meter dash and posting the third fastest time in the world in 2000, a blazing 44.70
seconds.
The Houston, Texas native won the Commissioner’s Trophy at the SEC Outdoor meet while guiding the Tigers to a second place finish. On top of winning the 400-meter dash, he finished second in the 200 with a time of 20.47, tops among Louisiana collegians in 2000, and also ran a leg on the SEC runner-up 4×100-meter relay and the Tigers’ 4×400-meter relay.
Russ Buller completed a near-flawless 2000 season by winning the NCAA Outdoor title in the pole vault, the first LSU man to win the outdoor crown since Matt Gordy in 1933. During the 2000 season the native of Westlake, La., captured the SEC and NCAA indoor and outdoor titles, the USTCA national championship and both the Texas and Penn Relay titles.
He broke his own LSU outdoor record with a season-best jump of 18 feet 8 + inches to win the Texas Relays title. During the outdoor season he broke the Cromwell Stadium record at Southern California and broke his own Bernie Moore Stadium record at LSU with a clearance of 18-6 +.
Traun Smith burst onto the scene for the Tigers during the 2000 season and became a solid triple jump threat on the SEC-level, scoring highly at both the conference indoor and outdoor meets. Smith was an NCAA indoor provisional qualifier and nearly made the national meet with a personal best jump of 52-0.
Solomon Kandie continued Tulane’s recent string of success in the distance events, earning All-American honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase while also winning two Conference USA titles. Kandie placed third in the steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the best-ever finish by a Tulane athlete at the event.
Kandie won the Conference USA Athlete of the Year Award after winning the steeplechase and 1,500 and finishing second in the 5,000 to claim high-point scorer honors at the conference meet. The Nairobi, Kenya native set the Tulane school record in the steeplechase with a personal best time of 8:40.81.
Peta-Gaye Dowdie concluded her illustrious career as a 19-time All-American, while helping the Lady Tigers regain the NCAA title they last held in her freshman season of 1997.
Dowdie, a native of St. Catherine, Jamaica, was crowned the NCAA champion in the 200-meter dash, the NCAA runner-up in the 100, anchored the Lady Tigers’ NCAA runner-up 4×100-meter relay and ran on their seventh place 4×400-meter relay team. With better than 20 points, Dowdie was the high point scorer at the NCAA Championships on the women’s side.
On the conference level Dowdie became the first woman since 1996 to pull the sprint double indoors, winning both the 60 and 200 meter titles, while winning the SEC 100-meter title outdoors and finishing second in the 200.
Keisha Spencer went undefeated against American collegians in 2000, boasting a perfect 12-0 record between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Her mark of 46-1 + during the indoor season was the fourth best in NCAA history.
Spencer won the SEC and NCAA indoor and outdoor titles, while claiming the USTCA national championship and Texas Relays title as well. The Clarendon, Jamaica, native won the Honda Award for track and field, recognizing the premier female athlete in the sport.
Pauline Vondrkova of the University of New Orleans developed into one of the up-and-coming young freshman milers in the Sun Belt Conference. Vondrkova was the Sun Belt champion in the mile during the indoor season and became the first woman in school history to run a sub-five minute mile, clocking a 4:51.79.
During the outdoor season Vondrkova ran a personal best time of 4:27.87 in the 1,500, a school record and the fastest time run in the Sun Belt since 1993. She recorded the three fastest times in UNO history in the 1,500 this spring.
All-Louisiana Track & Field Honors –
Men –
Track Athlete of the Year – Derrick Brew, LSU
Field Athlete of the Year – Russ Buller, LSU
Newcomer of the Year – Solomon Kandie, Tulane
Freshman of the Year- Traun Smith, LSU
Coach of the Year – Pat Henry, LSU
Women –
Track Athlete of the Year – Peta-Gaye Dowdie, LSU
Field Athlete of the Year – Keisha Spencer, LSU
Newcomer of the Year – No nominees
Freshman of the Year – Pauline Vondrkova, UNO
Coach of the Year – Pat Henry, LSU
2000 All-Louisiana Collegiate Men’s Track and Field Team
100-Meter Dash
10.08 Chad Miller, Northwestern, 4/30, Natchitoches
10.22 Tomas Alexander, La. Tech, 4/8, Austin
10.31 Carlos Garcia, LSU, 3/25, Baton Rouge
200-Meter Dash
20.47 Derrick Brew, LSU, 5/14, Baton Rouge
20.71 Antwon Dussett, Grambling, 4/15, Baton Rouge
20.90 Tomas Alexander, La. Tech, 5/14, Miami
400-Meter Dash
44.70 Derrick Brew, LSU, 5/14, Baton Rouge
45.53 Dedrick Evans, Grambling, 6/10, Dallas
46.55 Raymond Bennett, McNeese, 5/16, Natchitoches
800-Meter Run
1:51.40 Clement Abai, Tulane, 4/15, Tallahassee
1:51.45 Frans Schimper, LSU, 4/15, Baton Rouge
1:51.57 Antonio Johnson, Grambling, 5/7, Raymond, Miss.
1500-Meter Run
3:45.39 Frans Schimper, LSU, 3/25, Baton Rouge
3:48.89 Solomon Kandie, Tulane, 4/15, Tallahassee
3:49.03 Robert Walterscheid, La. Tech, 4/22, Oxford
3000-Meter Steeplechase
8:40.81 Solomon Kandie, Tulane, 4/27, Philadelphia
8:59.99 Jacob Busienei, Tulane, 4/15, Tallahassee
9:15.31 Kenny Henry, LSU, 5/13, Baton Rouge
5000-Meter Run
14:26.91 Likhaya Dayile, LSU, 4/21, Baton Rouge
14:36.99 Solomon Kandie, Tulane, 5/13, New Orleans
14:37.07 Jacob Busienei, Tulane, 3/18, Hattiesburg
10,000-Meter Run
29:34.89 Likhaya Dayile, LSU, 4/27, Philadelphia
31:17.84 Jason Foolkes, McNeese, 5/16, Natchitoches
32:07.25 Kevin Smelley, Nicholls St., 3/24, Lafayette
110-Meter Hurdles
13.75 Greg Scott, LSU, 5/14, Baton Rouge
13.87 Derrick James, UL Lafayette, 5/19, Baton Rouge
14.05 Michael Robbins, UL Monroe, 5/16, Natchitoches
400-Meter Hurdles
50.37 Edrige Darling, Tulane, 5/19, Baton Rouge
51.94 Lueroy Colquhoun, LSU, 4/15, Baton Rouge
51.95 Vernon Pitcher, Southern, 5/20, Baton Rouge
High Jump
7-2 + J. J. Barton, LSU, 4/22, Baton Rouge
6-10 Henry Bush, Southern, 5/7, Raymond, MS
6-9 + Arthur Goodly, McNeese, 5/16, Natchitoches
6-9 + Bryant Wesco, La. Tech, 4/8, Austin
Pole Vault
18-8 + Russ Buller, LSU, 4/8, Austin
14-11 + Jeff McGehee, La. Tech, 5/14, Miami
14-6 Richard Hoyt, UL Lafayette, 4/28, Natchitoches
14-6 Daniel Gagliano, UNO, 3/11, New Orleans
Long Jump
26-1 + Marcus Thomas, LSU, 5/13, Baton Rouge
25-8 Brian Johnson, Southern, 5/13, Baton Rouge
25-6 Tyson Dillard, Northwestern, 4/22, Fort Worth
Triple Jump
54-6 + Marcus Thomas, LSU, 5/14, Baton Rouge
53-10 + Tyson Dillard, Northwestern, 4/30, Natchitoches
53-6 + Bryant Wesco, La. Tech, 4/28, Natchitoches
Shot Put
60-10 + Alex Forst, LSU, 5/19, Baton Rouge
58-0 + Christian Nehme, LSU, 4/15, Baton Rouge
56-9 + David Estes, UL Monroe, 3/25, Lafayette
Discus
191-0 Alex Forst, LSU, 4/15, Baton Rouge
178-8 David Estes, UL Monroe, 5/16, Natchitoches
178-3 Christian Nehme, LSU, 4/15, Baton Rouge
Javelin
240-4 Nathan Junius, Tulane, 5/13, New Orleans
231-8 Blake Theriot, LSU, 5/14, Baton Rouge
229-6 Craig Nall, LSU, 5/19, Baton Rouge
Hammer
216-3 Javier Nieto, LSU, 4/15, Baton Rouge
170-4 Paul Gardner, LSU, 4/1, Los Angeles
157-7 John Williams, LSU, 3/18, Baton Rouge
Decathlon
7806 Claston Bernard, LSU, 6/2-3, Durham
6435 Paul Papillion, Northwestern, 5/15-16, Natchitoches
6010 Recie Medlock, LSU, 5/11-12, Baton Rouge
4×100-Meter Relay
39.07 LSU (Derrick Brew, Russ Buller, Deryell
Patterson, Dwhyte Barrett), 6/2, Durham
39.93 Southeastern (Craig Coleman, Donell Hayes, Andre’
Hunt, Duriel Mason), 5/16, Natchitoches
40.09 McNeese State (Reggie Howard, Roger Smith,
Raymond Bennett, John Hoffpauir), 5/20, Baton Rouge
4×400-Meter Relay
3:04.30 LSU (Carlos Garcia, Lueroy Colquhoun, Deryell
Patterson, Derrick Brew), 5/20, Atlanta
3:07.23 Grambling (Antoine Dussett, Dedrick Evans, Antonio
Johnson, D’Anthony Smotherman), 5/19, Baton Rouge
3:08.56 Tulane (Edrige Darling, Justin Robinson, Alberto
Francis, Carlton Davis), 4/15, Tallahassee
2000 All-Louisiana Collegiate Women’s Track and Field Team
100-Meter Dash
11.19 Erica Burrell, Southern, 5/7, Jackson, MS
11.20 Peta-Gaye Dowdie, LSU, 6/2, Durham
11.30 Sa’Donna Thornton, LSU, 4/22, Baton Rouge
200-Meter Dash
22.43 Peta-Gaye Dowdie, LSU, 4/22, Baton Rouge
23.07 Velma Bass, LSU, 4/15, Baton Rouge
23.12 Christine Amertil, Southeastern, 5/16, Natchitoches
400-Meter Dash
52.13 Christine Amertil, Southeastern, 6/3, Durham
53.65 Myra Combs, LSU, 3/18, Baton Rouge
53.81 Claudine Williams, LSU, 4/21, Baton Rouge
800-Meter Run
2:05.53 Claudine Williams, LSU, 4/15, Baton Rouge
2:07.28 Hanne Lyngstad, Tulane, 5/19, Baton Rouge
2:07.45 Lana Garner, Tulane, 4/15, Tallahassee
1500-Meter Run
4:17.85 Hanne Lyngstad, Tulane, 4/22, Starkville
4:27.87 Paulina Vondrkova, UNO, 4/15, Baton Rouge
4:29.11 Hanna Ritakallio, Tulane, 4/8,
3000-Meter Run
9:35.79 Hanne Lyngstad, Tulane, 5/12, New Orleans
9:46.38 Sita Waru, McNeese State, 5/16, Natchitoches
9:52.50 Susanne Strunz, LSU, 4/1, Los Angeles
5000-Meter Run
16:32.22 Sita Waru, McNeese State, 4/29, Des Moines
17:13.35 Hanne Lyngstad, Tulane, 5/13, New Orleans
17:22.02 Susanne Strunz, LSU, 4/21, Baton Rouge
10,000-Meter Run
36:14.46 Jana Builrova, UNO, 5/12, Miami
36:15.56 Sita Waru, McNeese State, 5/16, Natchitoches
36:37.91 Karen Lockyer, McNeese State, 4/29, Des Moines
100-Meter Hurdles
12.79 Joyce Bates, LSU, 4/22, Baton Rouge
13.24 April Sams, LSU, 4/22, Baton Rouge
13.49 Trudy Bihm, Southern, 5/13, Baton Rouge
400-Meter Hurdles
58.70 Abimbola Olumiywa, Grambling, 5/7, Raymond, Miss.
59.55 Althea Thomas, LSU, 3/25, Baton Rouge
1:00.23 Lana Garner, Tulane, 3/18, Hattiesburg
High Jump
5-10 + Ayana Walker, La. Tech, 4/28, Natchitoches
5-10 + Jacqueline Canton, Northwestern, 5/16, Natchitoches
5-10 + Johnette Lemon, UL Monroe, 5/16, Natchitoches
Pole Vault
10-2 Margaret Reaves, LSU, 3/18, Baton Rouge
10-0 Katie Flake, UL Monroe, 3/14, Natchitoches
9-6 + Kristy Coffman, UL Monroe, 4/21, Oxford, MS
Long Jump
21-8 + Keisha Spencer, LSU, 5/13, Baton Rouge
21-3 + Monique Freeman, LSU, 3/25, Baton Rouge
20-2 + Chenelle Marshall, LSU, 4/22, Baton Rouge
20-2 + Bianca Rockett, LSU, 5/19, Baton Rouge
Triple Jump
46-5 + Keisha Spencer, LSU, 4/22, Baton Rouge
43-10 + Bianca Rockett, LSU, 5/14, Baton Rouge
42-10 + Cecilie Rise, Tulane, 5/13, New Orleans
Shot Put
48-4 + Melissa Gibbons, La. Tech, 5/14, Miami
47-0 + Jill Lipp, LSU, 5/13, Baton Rouge
46-10 Tawanna Williams, La. Tech, 5/14, Miami
Discus
168-11 Melissa Gibbons, La. Tech, 5/13, Miami
149-10 Tiffany Temple, McNeese State, 4/1, Beaumont
149-6 Jill Lipp, LSU, 5/13, Baton Rouge
Javelin
164-5 Samantha Chesson, McNeese, 5/16, Natchitoches
163-9 Regina Roe, Northwestern, 3/16, College Station
160-4 Catherine Betz, Tulane, 4/8, Austin
Hammer
132-6 Paige Ellebee, UL Monroe, 4/21, Oxford, MS
Heptathlon
5366 Loren Leaverton, LSU, 5/11-12, Baton Rouge
3967 Amaris Davidson, Northwestern, 5/15-16, Natchitoches
3800 Amanda Hawkins, Northwestern, 5/15-16, Natchitoches
4×100-Meter Relay
43.16 LSU (Joyce Bates, Valma Bass, Myra Combs, Peta-Gaye Dowdie), 6/2, Durham
44.68 Northwestern (Erica Casnave, Kim Pouncy, Camille Pouncy, Dasha Thompson), 5/16, Natchitoches
44.85 Southern (LaChina Clay, Dwan Johnson, Cassie Jackson, Erica Burrell), 4/01, Baton Rouge
4×400-Meter Relay
3:34.09 LSU (Valma Bass, Peta-Gaye Dowdie, Myra Combs, Claudine Williams), 4/8, Austin
3:36.85 Tulane (Angela Milner, Nikeola Balogun, Quasheba Lee, Lana Garner), 4/15, Tallahassee
3:43.30 Southeastern (Christine Amertil, LaShaun Pollard, Jovanda Hall, Rachel McNeil), 4/15, Baton Rouge