Outdoor Track & Field Opens Louisiana Classics with School Record, Eight Personal Bests

Friday, March 17

Lafayette, La.

ALL DAY

Tulane University

Louisiana Classics

Outdoor Track & Field Opens Louisiana Classics with School Record, Eight Personal Bests

Mar 17, 2017 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field, Track & Field

LAFAYETTE, La. – Tulane's first out-of-town meet of the 2017 outdoor track & field season opened up competition on Friday afternoon at the Louisiana Classics, a day that would debut five Green Wave athletes in their respective events at UL-Lafayette's Cajun Soccer/Track Facility. Day one would result in eight personal bests and another school record in the javelin throw as Tulane produced another strong showing to open the outdoor season.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM DAY ONE OF THE LOUISIANA CLASSICS

For the second straight meet, redshirt senior Daliadiz Ortiz opened up the field events with a school record in the javelin, improving on her previous top mark for a throw of 51.88m (107-02) to seal another event title and uphold her spot at the top of the national rankings.

The personal bests would continue throughout the day, as freshman Skyler Guillot made her Tulane debut in the javelin on a throw that would surpass her high school best by nearly a meter for a mark of 37.81m (124-00).

Tulane's pole vaulters also had another productive outing, with redshirt senior Alyssa Applebee clearing upwards of 4.00m for the second straight meet to seal a second-place finish. Tulane would also earn top-five finishes from Mary Carson Pitts and Rebekah Markel as the Green Wave's trio of top jumpers trained a longer running approach for the first time.

Also in the pole vault, freshman Parish Kitto made her outdoor debut on a mark of 3.65m (11-11.75).

On the track, Tulane debuted four athletes in the 200m – three women and one male runner – all of whom would set competitive personal-best times in the event. Freshman Maya Harewood came away with a second-place finish in the first 200m dash of her collegiate career, finishing in 24.86, followed closely by sophomore Jessica Duckett in fourth (24.91).

On the men's side, freshman Raymond Kibet ran his first collegiate 200m in 21.73 for a fifth-place overall finish.

Sophomore Emmanuel Rotich, who broke a 3,000m school record in his last outing, closed out day one with a second-place finish in the 1,500m dash special, an invitational open only to the top distance runners in the meet. Rotich would notch Tulane's eighth and final personal best of the day on a time of 3:49.21.

UP NEXT

Tulane is back in action on Saturday morning for day two of competition at the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette. Field events begin at 10:00 a.m. with the men's discus and the women's shot put, while Tulane will get going in the running events at 2:15 p.m. with the women's steeplechase.

Live results for day two of the Louisiana Classics can be found here.

Fans can keep up with the latest in Tulane track & field action by finding the team on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Tulane Results from Day One of the Louisiana Classics

Women

Women's 200m Dash

2. Maya Harewood, 24.86*

4. Jessica Duckett, 24.91*

19. Brandi Hughes, 26.11*

Women's Hammer Throw

3. Jacqueline Esmay, 52.00m (170-07)

Women's Javelin Throw

1. Daliadiz Ortiz, 51.88m (107-02)^#*