MONROE, La. – The ULM track and field team heads to Baton Rouge this weekend to compete at the LSU Purple Tiger, one of five indoor meets on the Warhawks' schedule.
The 2020 campaign marks the 20th for ULM head coach J.D. Malone, who will have 20 upperclassmen on the women's roster, including 10 juniors, six seniors and four fifth-year seniors. On the men's side, Malone will have the luxury of coaching 17 upperclassmen, which includes eight juniors, five seniors and four fifth-year seniors.
Among the top returnees for the Warhawk women include juniors Alivia Busch, Jadyn Walden, Brittney Roberson, Fiebe Tengrootenhuysen, Ashlyn Jack and Sharon Jerono. Seniors Brianna Sam and Sydney Curry will also be looked upon to accrue points for the Warhawks. The four fifth-year competitors for the Warhawk women's unit include Micaiah Dendy, Ava Paul and Angela Jepchirchir.
Busch completed the 2019 slate by earning 14 Top-10 finishes, including a season-best second in the shot put event at the McNeese Louisiana Challenge, where she converted a heave of 43-feet, 2 ¼-inches. Three of those Top-10 finishes came in the indoor slate, including a fifth-place showing in the shot put at the LSU Bayou Bengal with a toss of 42-feet, 9 ½-inches.
Walden, who is also a specialized thrower, capped off the 2019 slate by placing among the Top-10 in five events. Her best overall finish, sixth, came in the shot put event at the Louisiana Classics, where she finished with a heave of 12.67 meters. The top finish in indoor action came at the Texas Tech Classic on Jan. 26, where she was eighth in the weight throw with a mark of 14.05 meters.
Brittney Roberson closed with four Top-10 performances in 2019, capping off the season by finishing sixth (57.00) and 10th (57.12) in the 400-meter dash at the Southern Miss Open and Sun Belt Outdoor Championship, respectively. Her top finish in the indoor slate, ninth, came when she crossed the line in 59.89 at the LSU Bayou Bengal on Feb. 1.
Tengrootenhuysen also put together a solid season in 2019, posting five Top-10 finishes along the way. After enjoying a sixth-place performance in the LSU Bayou's 200-meter dash (26.112), her top finish of the spring, she came through with four Top-10 outings in the outdoor season, including a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter dash (12.35) at the McNeese Louisiana Challenge.
Jack ended her 2019 season with five Top-10 individual finishes, posting a season-best fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (1:06.26) at the McNeese Louisiana Challenge.
Jerono also made her impact felt for the Warhawks with 10 Top-10 performances over the course of the 2019 slate, including four finishes in the Top-3. Jerono recorded a time of 5:19.3 in the one-mile run of the LSU Bayou Bengal, finishing first, before coming through with a second-place in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the McNeese Louisiana Challenge. Her outdoor season also included a solid performance at the Southern Miss Open, where she was first in the 800-meter run (2:19.12) and second in the 3000-meter steeplechase (10:28.32).
Sam has made her impact on the ULM track program with 22 Top-10 finishes since 2018, including 11 a season ago. Sam opened up the indoor slate by reaching the podium in three of four events last season, including first-place performances in the weight throw event at both the LSU Bayou Bengal (60-feet, 2 ½-inches) and the Sun Belt Indoor Championship (66-feet, 3-inches).
Curry enters the 2020 season with nine Top-20 outings in her ULM career, including a career-best fourth on March 15, 2017 in the 100-meter dash (13.29) at the Jim Mize Invitational. She had a 16th-place finish in the indoor season in 2019 in the 200-meter dash of the LSU Bayou Bengal (27.34). Curry notched a 10th-place finish in the outdoor slate, her best of the season, in the 400-meter dash (58.57) of the Al Schmitt Bulldog Relays.
Dendy's impressive ULM career includes 37 Top-10 finishes and 27 Top-3 finishes since 2017. She has captured first place on nine occasions, including a stretch of four straight between Feb. 20 and March 17, 2018, including three titles in the triple jump. Dendy came through with 10 Top-5 finishes a season ago, including back-to-back first place outings in the triple jump at the LSU Alumni Gold (12.27 meters) and Southern Miss Open (12.26 meters).
Paul has come through with 14 Top-10 performances as a Warhawk, enjoying her most Top-10 outings in 2018, where she came through with six. In 2019, Paul opened the outdoor season with a fourth-place outing in the 100-meter hurdles (14.90) at the McNeese Louisiana Challenge.
Jepchirchir has accrued 18 Top-10 finishes over the course of her ULM career, including four in 2019. She overcame a tough indoor season, which resulted in her best finish (14th) at the LSU Bayou Bengal in the one-mile run (5:42.4), by earning a season-best seventh-place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase (11:08.06) at the McNeese Louisiana Challenge.
Among the top returnees on the men's unit, ULM will return juniors Cole Burgess and Jakob Fudge along with the senior combination of Eric Hawkins, Sam Healy and Cole McKnight. Meanwhile, the quartet of Levaughn Battick, Zachary Kilpatrick and Austin Walker will provide the men's squad with experience as fifth-year seniors.
Burgess, who specializes in the pole vault, has posted six Top-10 finishes as a Warhawk. After an eighth-place performance in the indoor opener in 2019, the Texas Tech Classic, Burgess earned his top finish of the season (second) at the Samford Bulldog Open by clearing 14-feet, 11-inches.
Fudge is coming a solid 2019 season that resulted in 14 Top-10 finishes, including a season-best second-place outing in the hammer throw at the Carl Kight Invitational after a toss of 50.91 meters. Fudge capped off the 2019 indoor slate by finishing third (55-feet, 2-inches) and fourth (15.48 meters) in the weight throw of the LSU Bayou Bengal and Texas Tech Classic, respectively.
Hawkins, a distance runner for the Warhawks, has posted 16 Top-10 finishes since the 2018 slate. Hawkins came through with 10 of those Top-10 outings in 2019, where he did not finish outside the first seven finishers in 10 consecutive races between Feb. 1 and May 11, locking up first in the 800-meter run at the Louisiana Classics (1:55.19), Al Schmidt Bulldog Relays (1:52.64) and Southern Miss Open (1:55.17).
Healy has managed to leap his way to nine Top-10 finishes for the Warhawks. He has reached in the podium in six meets, including a first-place finish at the Samford Bulldog Open (23-feet, 5 ½-inches) on Feb. 9. Healy wrapped up the 2019 slate by finishing third in the long jump at both the Southern Miss Open (7.44 meters) and Sun Belt Outdoor Championship (7.62 meters), qualifying for the NCAA East Preliminaries, where he was 26th (7.24 meters).
McKnight, a specialist in the javelin event, has finished outside the Top-10 on just one occasion in 11 events as a Warhawk. He has put earned nine Top-3 finishes, including four first-place finishes at the Warhawk Classic (195-feet, 11-inches), Southern Miss Open (60.77 meters) and Sun Belt Outdoor Championship (223-feet, 11-inches) in 2018 as well as the Sun Belt Outdoor Championship (202-feet, 5-inches) during the 2019 slate.
Battick's ULM career has included 29 Top-10 finishes, including 11 trips to the podium as a Top-3 finisher. A four-time first-place finisher as a Warhawk, Battick last claimed a top finish in 2018 when he crossed the line first in the 110-meter hurdles at both the Warhawk Classic (14.45) and LSU Alumni Gold (14.40). Battick enjoyed a trio of third-place finishes in 2019, which came in succession at the McNeese Louisiana Challenge (14.53), Louisiana Classics (14.58) and Texas State Bobcat Invitational (14.36), all in the 110-meter hurdles.
Kilpatrick's time at ULM has witnessed 14 Top-10 finishes and six trips to the podium. He made four Top-3 finishes in 2019, including a series of second-place outings in the 400-meter hurdles at the Carl Kight Invitational (54.69), Warhawk Classic (54.55) and LSU Alumni Gold (54.24).
Walker, an all-around performer for ULM over the course of his career, took part in nine events during the 2019 season. The season began with an eighth-place finish in the high jump (6-feet, 4 ¼-inches) in the Ted Nelson Invitational. Walker capped off his indoor slate at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships, competing in the heptathlon, which resulted in seven Top-10s, including a fourth-place in the shot put (40-feet, 2-inches).
