BATON ROUGE – Members of the nationally ranked LSU track and field teams captured nine of ten special award categories on the 2023 Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-Louisiana Trach and Field Team announced on Friday by the association.
On the men’s side, it was an LSU sweep as NCAA relay champion Godson Oghenebrume won top track athlete, while NCAA Javelin Champion Tzuriel Pedigo took top field honors. Hurdler Matthew Sophia was named the state’s top freshman, while relay champion member Brandon Hicklin was named newcomer of the year for first-year Louisiana non-freshman. Finally, longtime Tiger Dennis Shaver was named the coach of the year after the Tigers finished fourth at the NCAA Championships.
On the women’s side there were multiple winners in two categories among the voting panel of 12 track and field communications specialists. NCAA 800 champion Michaela Rose of LSU was the track athlete of the year, while Tulane’s Kristen O’Handley and LSU’s Morgan Smalls tied for field athlete of the year. Sanaria Butler of Northwestern State and Brianna Lyston of LSU had equal votes for freshman and Shani’a Bellamy of LSU took newcomer honors. Yhann Plummer of Xavier was named women’s coach of the year.
The “team” is based on the top three times or distances in outdoor season events as determined by the official Track and Field Results Reporting Service.
Oghenebrume was part of the NCAA Outdoor winning 4×100 relay team and the runner-up in the NCAA 100-meter dash. He was named the USTFCCCA South Central Region Track Athlete of the Year. The sophomore from Ughelli, Nigeria also was the SEC 100 meter and 4×100 champion. He posted four sub-10 100s and clocked 9.90 in the NCAA Final.
He posted the No. 2 time in the 100 meters all-time for LSU, No. 3 for Nigeria and No. 7 for Africa and the NCAA as he had 11 first-place finishes.
Pedigo won the NCAA Javelin Throw with a toss of 261-9 to win his second NCAA title in the discipline in his career. He was the only javelin thrower in Louisiana to reach 74 meters, doing so in all five meets competing in the javelin. Pedigo is a junior from Baton Rouge.
Sophia, from Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles, earned second team All-America honors in his freshman season and was the fastest hurdler in the state. He clocked his 110-meter hurdles PR time of 13.59 twice this season at the most important times (SEC and NCAA Championships). He ranked 10th in LSU history for the 110-meter hurdles.
Hicklin joined Oghenebrume on the championship 4×100 relay team and also took eighth at the NCAAs in the long jump and 15th in the 100 meters. He earned newcomer honors after transferring from North Carolina A&T prior to the 2022-23 season.
Coach Shaver’s men scored 43 points for a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, marking the 25th year in a row LSU has finished in the top 10. The team had two NCAA individual champions. The Tigers also finished second in the SEC meet in 2023, finishing with 89 points.
On the women’s side, LSU’s Michaela Rose, a sophomore from Suffolk, Virginia, captured the 800-meter titles at both the SEC and NCAA Championship and that propelled her to the top spot as the state’s top female track athlete. Rose is the only woman in collegiate history to have three sub-two minute 800s in their outdoor career, doing so all in one season.
She is No. 2 in collegiate and No. 1 in LSU history with a time of 1:59.08 and she is undefeated against collegiate athletes in the 800 meters outdoors.
The two field athletes of the year had good performances in different disciplines with O’Handley of Tulane earning the most outstanding field performer in the American Athletic Conference event. Her primary success came in the pentathlon and heptathlon where she set six school records. O’Handley, a grad student from Honolulu, became the school’s first two-time All-American in one season for the Green Wave since 2016.
Smalls, a junior from Morrisville, North Carolina for LSU, earned second team All-American honors both in the NCAAs and in the SEC. She finished 12th in the long jump and 22nd in the high jump in the outdoor championships. Her high jump PR of 1.86 meters ranked third in LSU history, and is fourth in the nation.
The two choices for women’s freshman both showed speed on the track. Butler of Northwestern State reached the NCAAs in the 400 meters. She was named Southland Conference Female Athlete of the Year and won the Most Outstanding Performer at the SLC Championships earning three silvers and a gold.
Lyston finished third at the NCAA Championships in the 4×100 relay and 24th in the 200 members. She had six top-five finishes in finals and clocked a PR of 23.05 in the 200 members. She was a member of the SEC Champion 4×100 meter relay squad.
Newcomer Bellamy, a junior from Columbia, South Carolina, who transferred in from Coastal Carolina, clocked a PR of 55.58 at the NCAA Championships to finish fifth in the 400-meter hurdles. That time ranks eighth in LSU history for the event. She also ran a PR of 12.98 in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA East Prelims.
In earning women’s coach honors, Plummer, who was also chosen the Red River Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, led Xavier to a repeat as the outdoor conference team championship, this time with a meet record 309 points, scoring 104 points more than the nearest team. Team produced three All-Americans, including two that there earning the honors for a second time.
Complete honors list for the LSWA All-Louisiana Track and Field Team:
MEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – GODSON OGHENEBRUME, LSU
Voting – Oghenebrume 10, Cody Branch (Dillard) 1, Rodney Heath Jr (LA Tech) 1
MEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – TZURIEL PEDIGO, LSU
Voting – Pedigo 8, Seth Alexander (Xavier) 2, Jeremy Nelson (Louisiana) 1, Ali Eren Unlu (ULM) 1
MEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – MATTHEW SOPHIA, LSU
Voting – Sophia 5, Coulaj Eans (Xavier) 3, Jeremy Nelson (Louisiana) 3, Jamie Sancho (LA Tech) 1
MEN’S NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – BRANDON HICKLIN, LSU
Voting – Hicklin 11, Jayden Sloan (UNO) 1
MEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR – DENNIS SHAVER, LSU
Voting – Shaver 8, Nile Legania (Dillard) 3, Lon Badeaux (Louisiana) 1
WOMEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – MICHAELA ROSE, LSU
Voting – Rose 10, Sanaria Butler (Northwestern State) 1, Kevell Byrd (Dillard) 1
WOMEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR (TIE) –MORGAN SMALLS, LSU; KRISTEN O’HANDLEY, TULANE
Voting – O’Handley 5, Smalls 5, Eunice Ilunga Mbuyi (ULM) 2
WOMEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR (TIE) –BRIANNA LYSTON, LSU; SANARIA BUTLER, NORTHWESTERN STATE
Voting – Butler 5, Lyston 5, Maria Bienvenu (Louisiana) 2
WOMEN’S NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR –SHANI’A BELLAMY, LSU
Voting – Bellamy 7, Jacqueline Pokuaah (Louisiana) 3, Rebecca DeKay (UNO) 1, Claudine Raud-Gumiel (ULM) 1
WOMEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR –YHANN PLUMMER, XAVIER
Voting – Plummer 4, Mike Heimerman (Northwestern State) 3, Dennis Shaver (LSU) 3, Nile Legania (Dillard) 1, Adrian Myers (Tulane 1)
All-Louisiana track and field best times:
100 Meters (Men)
Godson Oghenebrume, LSU – June 9, 2023 – 9.90
Da’Marcus Fleming, LSU – June 9, 2023 – 9.97
Brandon Hicklin, LSU – June 7, 2023 – 10.12
100 Meters (Women)
Favour Ofili, LSU – May 11, 2023 — 11.17
Thelma Davies, LSU – March 29, 2023 – 11.19
Tionna Brown, LSU – March 17, 2023 – 11.33
200 Meters (Men)
Da’Marcus Fleming, LSU – April 22, 2023 – 20.22
Dorian Camel, LSU – May 26, 2023 – 20.23
Jamie Sancho, Louisiana Tech – April 28, 2023 – 20.64
200 Meters (Women)
Favor Ofili, LSU – May 11, 2023 – 22.58
Thelma Davies, LSU – April 14, 2023 – 22.64
Brianna Lyston, LSU – May 25, 2023 – 22.75
400 Meters (Men)
Eugene Omalla, Southeastern – May 4, 2023 – 46.06
Ashton Hicks, LSU – April 14, 2023 – 46.24
Sean Burrell, LSU – May 11, 2023 – 46.38
400 Meters (Women)
Ella Onojuvwevwo, LSU – May 11, 2023 – 51.85
Sanaria Butler, Northwestern State – April 21, 2023 – 52.19
Maygan Shaw, Northwestern State – April 21, 2023 – 52.73
800 Meters (Men)
Alex Selles, LSU – April 13, 2023 – 1:47.68
Javon-Taye Williams, Southeastern – April 8, 2023 — 1:48.64
Nicholas Scott, Southern – April 22, 2023 – 1:48.84
800 Meters (Women)
Michaela Rose, LSU – April 13, 2023 – 1:59.08
Cindy Bourdier, LSU – May 25, 2023 – 2:03.09
Lorena Rangel Batres, LSU – April 8, 2023 – 2:03.53
1500 Meters (Men)
David Bove, LSU – April 13, 2023 – 3:39.42
Alex Selles, LSU – April 13, 2023 – 3:42.82
Aaron Gilliam, Tulane – May 14, 2023 — 3:45.27
1500 Meters (Women)
Lorena Rangel Batres, LSU – April 13, 2023 – 4:11.61
Michaela Rose, LSU – April 13, 2023 – 4:11.98
Cindy Bourdier, LSU – April 13, 2023 – 4:20.90
5000 Meters (Men)
Bradley Makuvire, Tulane – March 23, 2023 – 13:57.67
Aaron Gilliam, Tulane – March 23, 2023 – 14:27.84
Louden Boudreaux, Louisiana – April 18, 2023 – 14:31.42
5000 Meters (Women)
Rebecca DeKay, UNO – April 14, 2023 – 16:58.31
Sorcha Moloney, McNeese – April 22, 2023 – 17:09.34
Haley Salsbury, Louisiana – April 15, 2023 – 17:19.29
10000 Meters (Men)
Bradley Makuvire, Tulane – April 13, 2023 – 28:50.61
Gilbert Kimutai, McNeese – May 4, 2023 – 30:44.53
Jacob Kipkogei, McNeese – March 29, 2023 — 31:07.44
10000 Meters (Women)
Sophie Daigle, Louisiana – April 13, 2023 – 34:19.08
Rebecca Dekay, UNO – May 4, 2023 – 37:31.24
Sorcha Moloney, McNeese – May 4, 2023 — 37:44.95
100 Meter Hurdles (Women)
Alia Armstrong, LSU – May 11, 2023 – 12.31
Leah Phillips, LSU – May 27, 2023 – 12.86
Shani’a Bellamy, LSU – May 25, 2023 – 12.98
110 Meter Hurdles (Men)
Matthew Sophia, LSU – May 24, 2023 – 13.53
Jorim Bangue, UNO – May 4, 2023 – 13.87
Loubert Dagrin, Louisiana – April 28, 2023 – 13.89
400 Hurdles (Men)
Sean Burrell, LSU – May 11, 2023 – 49.32
Omri Shiff, Southeastern – March 25, 2023 – 50.81
Javed Jones, Louisiana – May 11, 2023 – 50.96
400 Hurdles (Women)
Shani’a Bellamy, LSU – June 10, 2023 – 55.58
Leah Phillips, LSU – April 14, 2023 – 56.56
Garriel White, LSU – May 11, 2023 – 58.01
3000 Steeplechase (Men)
Kolyn Saltzman, UNO – April 13, 2023 – 9:01.55
Arturs Lapins, Tulane – April 13, 2023 – 9:02.64
Rojs Puks, ULM – April 22, 2023 – 9:38.83
3000 Steeplechase (Women)
MacKenzie Callahan, Tulane – April 26, 2023 – 10:24.50
Arana Jimenez, UNO – April 13, 2023 – 10:31.11
Ella Chesnut, LSU – March 29, 2023 – 10:34.02
4×100 Relay (Men)
LSU (Hicklin, Camel, Fleming, Oghenebrume) – May 11, 2023 – 37.90
Louisiana (Jones, Crockett, Appiah, Booth) – June 7, 2023 – 39.38
Northwestern State (SImoneaux, Scott, Jacobs, Wulff) – March 25, 2023 – 39.51
4×100 Relay (Women)
LSU (Armstrong, Ofili, Lyston, Davies) – May 11, 2023 – 42.92
Northwestern State (Byrd, Washington, Balde, Shaw) – March 25, 2023 – 44.91
Louisiana (London, Bridgen, Robinson, Spates) – April 22, 2023 – 45.13
4×400 Relay (Men)
LSU (Camel, Burrell, McKay, Hicks) – May 11, 2023 – 3:03.16
Southeastern (Omalla, Omalla, Shiff, Jackson) – May 4, 2023 – 3:06.48
Louisiana (Hoyte-Small, Scott, Jones, Fergusson) – May 11, 2023 – 3:08.32
4×400 Relay (Women)
LSU (Onojuvwevweo, Rose, Phillips, Douglas) – May 27, 2023 – 3:31.51
Northwestern State (Weller, Shaw, Balde, Butler) – May 4, 2023 – 3:35.77
Louisiana (Spates, Bridgen, Noel, Johnson) – March 31, 2023 – 3:45.63
High Jump (Men)
Ali Eren Unlu, ULM – May 11, 2023 – 7.3.75
Slavko Stevic, Southeastern – April 15, 2023 – 7-3.25
Randy Kelly, Northwestern State – May 4, 2023 – 6-11.50
High Jump (Women)
Morgan Smalls, LSU – April 8, 2023 – 6-1.25
Katrine Olsen, Southeastern – May 4, 2023 – 5-9.75
Taylor Davis, Louisiana – April 15, 2023 – 5-9.25
Pole Vault (Men)
Beau Domingue, LSU – May 11, 2023 – 17-4.50
Nick Russell, Louisiana – April 22, 2023 – 16-7.25
Kameron Aime, LSU – March 17, 2023 – 16-6.75
Pole Vault (Women)
Emery Prentice, LSU – April 22, 2023 – 13-1
Jordan Brown, Louisiana – April 28, 2023 – 12-8.75
Madison Brown, Northwestern State – May 4, 2023 – 12.750
Long Jump (Men)
Brandon Hicklin, LSU – March 29, 2023 – 26-1
Ji’eem Bullock, LSU – April 14, 2023 – 25-2
Adam Lindo, Northwestern State – May 12, 2023 – 25-0
Long Jump (Women)
Morgan Smalls, LSU – May 11, 2023 – 21-1.50
Olaia Becerril Alvarez, ULM – March 30, 2023 – 20-9
Jacqueline Pokuaah, Louisiana – April 15, 2023 – 20-6.5
Triple Jump (Men)
Apalos Edwards, LSU – April 22, 2023 – 53-5
Jeremy Nelson, Louisiana – March 25, 2023 – 51-4.25
Seth Alexander, Xavier – May 26, 2023 – 50-6
Triple Jump (Women)
Eunice Illunga Mbuyi, ULM – March 29, 2023 – 44-7.50
Jacqueline Pokuaah, Louisiana – May 11, 2023 – 42-9.75
Taylor Davis, Louisiana – May 27, 2023 – 41-11.25
Shot Put (Men)
John Meyer, LSU – May 11, 2023 – 67-3.25
Djirmon Gumbs, Northwestern State – March 11, 2023 – 63-1.50
Marcus Francis, McNeese – May 4, 2023 – 58-1.0
Shot Put (Women)
Maren Butler, Tulane – May 12, 2023 – 51-4.25
Kristian Jackson, Southeastern – March 25, 2023 – 50-7.25
Ashari Jones, McNeese – McNeese – March 23, 2023 – 47-11.25
Discus (Men)
Djimon Gumbs, Northwestern State – March 11, 2023 – 205-11
Claudio Romero, LSU – March 25, 2023 – 201-1
Jaden James – LSU – March 17, 2023 – 184-4
Discus (Women)
Kristian Jackson, Southeastern – April 22, 2023 – 178-5
Maren Butler, Tulane – April 28, 2023 – 156-2
Reese Grossie, McNeese – May 4, 2023 – 155-5
Hammer (Men)
Terrell Webb, Southeastern – April 8, 2023 – 210-3
Jonathan Witte, LSU – April 22, 2023 – 197-0
Tyler Challis, McNeese – May 4, 2023 – 187-2
Hammer (Women)
Mariah Lee, McNeese – May 4, 2023 – 196-8
Chloe Hernandez, McNeese – April 15, 2023 – 177-3
Sydney Lake, ULM – April 15, 2023 – 168-9
Javelin (Men)
Tzuriel Pedigo, LSU – June 9, 2023 – 261-9
Callan Saldutto, ULM – May 11, 2023 – 241-8
Jackson Rimes, LSU – March 17, 2023 – 226-11
Javelin (Women)
Maria Bienvenu, Louisiana – May 25, 2023 – 169-11
Mann Barras, Louisiana – March 29, 2023 – 156-1
Emma Bacilla, Louisiana – April 28, 2023 – 153-6
Heptathlon (Women)
Kristen O’Handley, Tulane – April 20, 2023 – 5802
Margot Temines, Tulane – May 12, 2023 – 5515
Claudine Raud-Gumiel, ULM – May 11, 2023 – 5265
Decathlon (Men)
Bailey Couch, ULM – May 11, 2023 — 6453
Luke Benoit, Louisiana – May 11, 2023 — 6223
Logan Broussard, McNeese – May 4, 2023 – 6062