LSU's Cook opens season with PR in javelin victory

LAFAYETTE – Stepping onto the runway for her very first throw of the 2015 outdoor season, LSU junior Mayme Cook unleashed a nearly three-foot personal best when her javelin landed 161 feet, 0 inches into the infield at the Ragin’ Cajuns Track Stadium to take the title and lead a 1-2-3 sweep by the Lady Tigers in Friday’s opener at the Louisiana Classics.
Cook, a former state champion in 2010 during her prep days at Notre Dame, captured her first collegiate javelin title when she outdistanced junior teammate Doren Welch by nearly 12 feet while smashing her previous personal best of 158-8 set during her sophomore season a year ago. It also strengthened her grip on the No. 7 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the event.
Cook competed in track and field and volleyball during her freshman year at Louisiana-Lafayette before transferring to LSU in the fall of 2013. While at ULL, she was the Sun Belt Conference silver medalist in the javelin throw during the 2013 outdoor season
Welch struck silver with a season-opening 149-3 also posted on her first throw of the day, while sophomore teammate Alli Brasuell won the bronze medal with a top throw of 136-3 in the second round.
With Friday’s opener at the Louisiana Classics giving LSU’s javelin throwers their first opportunity to compete in 2015, four Tigers also stepped onto the runway for their outdoor opener in the men’s javelin with Jeremy Tuttle leading the way by throwing 201-2 for second place in his debut. Tuttle was just one inch shy of matching McNeese State’s Kyle Zenon (201-3) for the title to kick off his senior season.
Junior teammate Terry Hughes followed in third place in the men’s javelin final while throwing a series-best mark of 198-7 in the second round followed by junior Philip Moody in fifth place with a season-opening mark of 195-5 in the fourth round and junior Garret LeBouef in eighth place overall with his top mark of 183-3 in the fifth round to kick off the 2015 outdoor season.
LSU’s distance duo of junior Travis Pope and freshman Joseph St. Cyr wrapped up Friday’s action at the Louisiana Classics by taking second place and third place, respectively, in the men’s 10,000-meter run while taking to the track for the first time in their collegiate careers in the event. Pope clocked 31 minutes, 59.62 seconds for second place as he finished more than one minute ahead of St. Cyr’s 33:15.66 in third place.
Pope (31:59.62) followed William Carey’s event champion Geoffrey Kipchumba (31:02.34) across the finish line to take home the silver medal in his outdoor season debut for the Tigers at the Louisiana Classics.