April 16, 2008

It only took Carlese Franklin one throw to jump into the elite field of javelin throwers in the Southland Conference.

That throw came last week at the LSU Tiger Relays for the Cowboy senior.

On his last throw of the event, he checked in with a 211-8 toss that presently ranks No. 2 in the conference.

It was his first meet in two seasons for the Cowboys as football has taken up most of his time, the Kentwood native being one of the nation's top wide receivers the past two seasons in the FCS, twice earning first team all-conference recognition.

Two years ago he had a best of 202-4 in the javelin for which he finished seventh in the conference meet and earned a berth in the NCAA regionals. Last year he did not participate in track.

This spring, he's still dividing his time between football and track.

Although he has completed his eligibility, he's one of several players who workout daily with McNeese strength and conditioning coach Zeb Hawkins in an attempt to gain favors from pro scouts towards a professional career.

"He's been getting a lot of looks from the scouts,"Hawkins said. "He went to a pro timing day recently at Southern and had a real good workout."

On Sunday of this week Franklin will also head to Jackson, MS for a tryout with the Canadian Football League.

On Saturday, he will be on a short list of McNeese athletes who will compete in a track meet hosted by LSU.

Because of the tryout with the CFL, Franklin as well as the Brown brothers - Darrick and Marcus - are not making the run to Lawrence, Kan for the Kansas Relays this week.

All three along with Cowgirl javelin thrower Amanda LeJeune will perform in Baton Rouge on Saturday.

Darrick has the top long jump in the SLC this year - a leap of 25-3/4 while Marcus is second best at 24-5. Darrick is one of only two Cowboys to ever go 25 feet in the long jump, the others being Brian Cooper and Verril Young.

Among those who will perform for McNeese in the Kansas Relays, which kicks off Thursday, are distance runners Michael Dyer, Jordan Neil and Amy Guinn, sprinter Christi McRae, shot putter John Jamail and hammer thrower Freddie Hannie.

Dyer leads the conference in the 800 meter run with a 1:53.0 effort while McRae tops the women's 400 meters at 54.07 and Hannie is second in the hammer throw at 189-4.

The Cowboys' David Richardson, who leads the conference in the javelin event, will not participate this week because of an injury.

Next week the Cowboys and the Cowgirls will run at the Ty Terrell Relays in Beaumont and then await the conference championship meet which will be held May 9-11 in Huntsville, TX.