BOISE, Idaho - In the final indoor track and field competition of her career, Chelsea Hayes grabbed a pair of All-America honors and finished second in the long jump at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships at Jacksons Track in Boise Friday evening.
Hayes, a native of New Orleans, set a new school and Western Athletic Conference record with a jump of 21-8.25 (6.61m), finishing second and scoring eight team points for Louisiana Tech, a program record topping the previous best of seven points scored in 2007. TCU’s Whitney Gipson won the event with an NCAA record and world-leading jump of 22-8 (6.91m).
“That was a big performance in the long jump on a big stage,” said Louisiana Tech head coach Gary Stanley. “It was a great job by both Chelsea Hayes and associate head coach and jumps coach Shawn Jackson. They were very steady under a huge amount of pressure.”
The Abramson High School product competed in the long jump less than 30 minutes after running in the 60m dash prelims, where she finished 15th overall in one of the closest possible decisions between three sprinters. Hayes beat Syracuse’s Flings Owusu-Agyapung by two-thousandths of a second (0.002) with a time of 7.43 [7.428] while being edged by Miami’s Tarika Williams for 14th, who ran 7.43 [7.423].
The 15th place finish garners Hayes second team All-America honors.
Trey Hadnot also claimed second team All-America honors by finishing 13th in the 200m dash prelims, running 21.24. Hadnot edged Baylor’s Everett Walker, who ran 21.25 to finish 14th.
The official list of All-Americans will be announced next week by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
This concludes the 2012 indoor season for Louisiana Tech and the program will now turn its attention to the outdoor season which begins on March 17 at the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette.
For complete coverage of Tech Track and Field, please visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.