ABILENE - The Lone Star Conference Thursday announced that Abilene Christian hammer thrower Baptiste Kerjean and triple jumper Amanda Ouedraogo were selected as its field athletes of the week in recognition for their performances at the Texas Relays.
The Wildcats have won all four LSC Field Athlete of the Week citations since the start of 2012 outdoor season. Ouedrago and senior
Nick Jones received last week's certificates.
Kerjean, a newcomer to the ACU Track and Field team, turned in the two longest throws of his career last Thursday afternoon at Myers Stadium to finish third in the university-college hammer throw. His mark of 207 feet, 5 inches (63.22m), trailed only the 217-3 of Jeremy Postin of Florida and the 213-6 of Nick Miller, an Oklahoma State international student who competed unattached.
Kerjean became only the third Wildcat to register more than 200 feet in the hammer throw as he now trails only Glenn Griffin (209-2) and Cliff Felkins (208-4) on the ACU all-time list of performers. He also moved into fourth on the 2012 list of hammer throwers in NCAA Division II.
Ouedraogo placed fifth among 16 competitors in the university-college triple jump with her collegiate best (and wind-aided) 43-3.25 (13.19m). Her mark in the sixth round moved her into the lead in NCAA Division II on the 2012 outdoor performance list.
Ouedraogo's jump last Friday included the first two 13-meter jumps of her Wildcat career. She leaped 13.01 meters (42-8.25 with 4.3 wind) in the third round of preliminary jumps to advance to the final, then after fouls in the fourth and fifth rounds she leaped 13.19 (43-3.25 with 2.8 wind). She is second on the ACU all-time list in the women's triple jump with a legal best of 42-5.5 behind school record holder Stephanie Warren at 43-4.24 (13.21 meters).
Kerjean's and Ouedraogo's efforts represented two of four NCAA automatic qualifying marks turned in by ACU's field athletes at the Texas Relays. Also adding their names to the list of national competitors were long jumper Levance Williams, who won his section with a distance of 24-10 (7.57m), and Jones, who qualified for the discus with a top-ranked DII throw of 195-2 (59.48m). Jones has won three NCAA titles in the discus.
Additional Wildcats of note from last week include freshman Lexus Williams and junior Dennis Bain. Williams first recorded a 22nd-ranked time of 14.36 in the 100m hurdles, and then ran the first leg for ACU's 4x400m relay that turned in a season-best time of 3:49.58, which is one of the top 15 times this season for NCAA Division II.
Bain recorded a trio of third-place and NCAA provisional marks at the relays in the 110m hurdles, 4x100m (40.94) and 4x400m (3:10.42) relays. Bain's time of 14.18 in the hurdles currently ranks him fourth in DII.
Bain's and Williams' marks from last week give the Wildcats 12 NCAA provisional qualifiers entering this week's competitions at Angelo State and Texas State.
The Wildcats will be represented by 11 student-athletes at the David Noble Relays, which takes place all day Thursday (April 5) at the LeGrand Sports Complex, while the rest of the team will be dispatched to San Marcos for Friday's and Saturday's running of the Texas State Invitational.
Opponents at Texas State will include the host Bobcats, plus teams from UTSA, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Sam Houston State and Rice. Fans can access live results through
AdkinsTrak Timing.
ACU's contingent at San Angelo includes all of its men's and women's throwers, plus multi-athletes Cassie Brooks, Parker Petty, and Matthew Stark.
Results of the David Noble Relays
will be posted to www.angelosports.com after the meet Thursday night.
