Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Track and Field
The Louisiana Tech men’s and women’s Track & Field team competed at the Jaguar Invitational for a final tune-up before the Conference USA Indoor Championships Sunday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala.
LA Tech earned eight top-five finishes and four podiums and added six more PRs to bring the indoor season total to 39 in four weeks of competition. Two gold medal performances from Mateo Smith and Nemoy Cockett highlighted the Sunday meet.
Smith, a freshman from Broward, Fla., shined on the track and the field with a gold medal finish in the men’s long jump on a new personal best of 7.28m (23′ 10.75”). It was Smith’s second finish atop the podium in the event this season.
Smith followed his leap with a second-place finish in the men’s 60m with a 6.83 in an event LA Tech took three of the top-seven times. Gerard Sapena grabbed fourth place with a 6.85, and Devin Walton posted a 6.86.
In the Men’s Weight Throw, Cockett earned his second gold in as many weeks, shattering his personal best with a 19.38m (63′ 7.0”) which now ranks No. 2 all-time in men’s indoor weight throw in program history. It was the Kingston, Jamaican native’s third career first-place finish in the event.
On the track, Tech added PRs from Logan Bailey in the men’s mile with a 4:41.05, and Faith Tarver earned a personal best in the women’s 400m with a 56.87 and a top-ten finish in Sunday’s event. Kayla Watson also earned a top-five finish in the women’s 60m with an 8.80.
Tia Reder registered a PR in the women’s triple jump on her third attempt of the day and earned a second-place finish with a leap of 11.68m (38′ 4.0”), and Jiana Stewartburgess grabbed a top-five spot in the women’s high jump with a 1.64m (5′ 4.5″).
In the throwing events, Elizabeth Sebera earned a top-five finish in the women’s weight throw with a PR of 16.73m (54′ 10.75”), and Shania Parkinson produced her best throw of the season in the women’s shot put with a throw of 13.16m (43′ 2.25”), which was good for a sixth-place finish.
In the relays, the LA Tech women’s team comprised of Faith Tarver, Ulanda Lewis, Chanel Honeywell, and Victoria Datta ranked fourth with a time of 3:57.89, and the men’s A Team (Laeden Tucker, Micah Pernetter, Rodney Heath Jr., Marshall Ellis) earned a top-10 finish with a 3:22.13.
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Men’s Golf
Louisiana Tech put together two solid rounds of golf to kick off the spring portion of its schedule, ending day one of The Hayt in third place at the Sawgrass Country Club on Sunday.
LA Tech shot 291 (+3) as a team to put itself in fourth after round one. The Bulldogs then moved up a spot with two holes still left to be played by Thomas Henson to put a wrap on round two (stopped due to darkness).
The ‘Dogs quickly jumped to the top of the leaderboard in the early going, sinking a combined eight birdies on the first five holes (started on No. 7). Three of those were courtesy of James Swash who shot a bogey-free 69 (-3) to lead the squad.
The remaining three scores came from Lake Juban, Hunter Battles, and Henson who all carded 74s (+2).
Round two started out much the same way for LA Tech, capitalizing on the par fives to shoot -6. Juban tore up the front nine, carding a 32 in route to leading the squad with a season-low 68 (-4).
Swash was able to erase back-to-back double bogeys on No. 13 and 14 with four birdies. A bogey on No. 1 gave him a 73 (+1). Both Swash and Juban going into third round tied for 11th on the player leaderboard at 142 (-2).
Battle matched his first-round effort with a 74 (+2) while Henson is bogey free at 64 (-1) with No. 5 and No. 6 still to play.
LA Tech trails only Vanderbilt (No. 1 team in the country) and host North Florida.
NOTABLES
- LA Tech’s 291 tied for the fourth best round of the 2022-23 season for the Bulldogs.
- James Swash reached red numbers for the third time this season (69 is his second best round of the season).
- Lake Juban reached red numbers for the fourth time this season. His season-low 68 is the second best round of any Bulldog this season.
- Lake Juban’s five birdies in round two tied for the third most birdies in a single round this season
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Tennis 7, Southern Arkansas 0
Tennis 4, Southern Arkansas 0
After being away from competition for the last two weeks, the Louisiana Tech Tennis team put together a pair of shutout victories over Southern Arkansas on Sunday at the LA Tech Tennis Complex.
LA Tech (5-1) extended its winning streak to four, first defeating SAU (1-2) by a final score of 4-0 followed by a 7-0 victory. Including unfinished matches, the Lady Techsters dropped only two of the 25 sets played.
In both matches, it was the duos of Najah Dawson/Leonie Schuknecht and Olga Bienzobas/Ana Rodrigues clinching the opening point in doubles.
Dawson and Rodrigues were also part of two of the three singles wins in match one, winning 6-0, 6-1 on court three and 6-1, 6-0 on court six, respectively. The clinching fourth point came from Tiffani Nash who also only surrendered one game, winning 6-0, 6-1 on court four.
All six of the singles matches were played out in match two and LA Tech swept all six. Bienzobas, Dawson, and Ilana Tetruashvili combined to drop only two total games to provide the three points needed to clinch the victory.
Schuknecht remained undefeated in dual singles this spring, taking it 6-2, 6-0 on court one. Rodrigues and Nash rounded out the day with straight-set victories on courts three and five.
NOTABLES
- LA Tech now leads the all-time series over Southern Arkansas, 2-0. These were the first ever meetings between the two programs.
- LA Tech improved to 27-6 in dual singles and 12-4 in dual doubles this spring.
- Leonie Schuknecht and Ilana Tetruashvili remained undefeated in dual singles, improving to 5-0 and 3-0, respectively.
- Ilana Tetruashvili claimed her 45th career dual singles match, tied for the seventh most in program history.
