BATON ROUGE, La. — The Southern University track and field teams turned in several strong performances Friday at the LSU Bayou Bengal Invitational, highlighted by personal records, top-five finishes, and multiple marks that rank among the best in the HBCU landscape this season.
 
The Jaguars were sharp in the sprints early on. On the men's side, Omari Dupas led Southern in the 60 meters with a time of 7.02, followed closely by Herman Batiste, who posted a personal-best 7.06, and Darryl Washington at 7.13. In the women's 60 meters, Tashina Alase continued her strong season, clocking 7.63, while Rondisa Williams finished in 7.67. Freshman Kendall Cook added a solid 7.72 in her collegiate outing.
 
Southern also made noise in the middle distances. Marcus Delcy paced the men in the 800 meters, running 1:55.27, with freshman Keeton Johnson close behind at 1:56.05. In the mile, Johnson recorded a 4:40.32, while freshman Rayah Arnold competed in the women's mile, finishing in 6:02.92. Senior Camille Lewis-Wilson highlighted the women's events with a 1:42.88 in the 600 meters.
 
The Jaguars were especially strong in the field events. Freshman Keith Fowler cleared 2.04 meters (6-8.25) in the high jump, tying for a top-five finish in just his first collegiate competition. He was joined at the same height by Roman Smith and Landon Gibbs, giving Southern three athletes at 2.04m. In the long jump, Koi Wedderburn recorded a mark of 7.07 meters (23-2.5) to place third, while Batiste followed with a 6.78m (22-3) effort.
 
Southern's throwers also delivered standout performances. Michael Fulton threw a personal-best 16.10 meters (52-10) in the shot put and followed it up with a 16.51m (54-2) mark in the weight throw. On the women's side, Layla Spann-McDonald led the Jaguars with a 16.52m (54-2.5) throw in the weight throw, while Ariyonna Edmond added a 15.25m (50-0.5) mark.
 
The men capped off the meet with a strong showing in the 4x400-meter relay, as the team of Darryl Washington, Larry Paul III, Keeton Johnson, and Marcus Delcy finished in 3:19.88, a time that ranks among the top HBCU performances this season.
 
Up Next
Southern will head to the Robert Platt Invitational hosted by the University of Houston at Yeoman Fieldhouse next Friday and Saturday.

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