Area collegiate track and field athletes place at conference meets

Several Tri-City area collegiate athletes placed at their respective track and field conference championships this month.
Morgan City High alum Vernon Norwood, a senior at LSU, led the way as he recorded one runner-up finish in the 400-meter run, while finishing second as a member of the Tigers’ 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay at the 2015 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Tigers earned All-SEC honors in each of these events.
In the 400, Norwood finished second to Texas A&M’s Deon Lendore, who ran a 44.41.
Norwood’s time was his second-fastest this season.
The Tigers recorded seasonal-best marks in the 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay. In the 4x100, the Tigers’ team of senior Joshua Thompson, Norwood, sophomore Tremayne Acy, and senior Aaron Ernest recorded a time of 38.78 seconds for the runner-up finish.
Texas A&M edged the Tigers as its ground clocked in at 38.74.
Both Texas A&M’s and LSU’s times were the two fastest in the NCAA this spring.
In the 4x400-meter relay, Norwood and his teammates combined to run a 3:01.63 for second place. The quartet of senior Quincy Downing, junior Cyril Grayson, junior Fitzroy Dunkley and Norwood finished runner-up to Florida, who ran a 3:01.60.
The Tigers’ time was a seasonal best and was the seventh-fastest mark in school history.
At the Southland Conference Championships earlier this month, Southeastern Louisiana University’s Kendall Robinson, a junior, finished ninth in the competition with a leap of 6 feet, 6 inches. Robinson is a graduate of Central Catholic High School
At the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships earlier this month, University of Louisiana at Monroe’s Jonathan Jeffcoat set personal records in the 10,000-meter run and the 5,000 meter run.
Jeffcoat placed 13th in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 33:02.22. His previous best was 33:53.16.
The sophomore distance runner and Patterson High alum placed 17th in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 15:40.78.