Barras still holds several records at Highland Baptist, where she remains the school's most-decorated female athlete. 

LAFAYETTE – Marin Barras can do it all for the UL women’s track and field team.

The New Iberia native, who graduated from Highland Baptist, has competed in every throwing event for the Ragin’ Cajuns – the shot put, weight throw, hammer throw, discus and javelin.

She shines the brightest throwing the javelin. The junior leads the Sun Belt Conference in the event with the outdoor conference championship” meet coming up soon.

“We got a new coach who has me concentrating in two events,” Barras said. “The javelin and the hammer throw. It makes things easier in that I’m not spread as thin.”

Barras said UL, which boasts five of the conference’s top six javelin throwers, is in good position for both the men’s and women’s teams to win the Sun Belt, something that hasn’t happened since the 1980s.

“Our team is really close,” she said. “Athletically, going from Highland Baptist to UL wasn’t much of a difference because the track team was really welcoming. I really like my teammates and the throwing squad. The internal competition is good. It’s really awesome to have teammates going back and forth.”

Barras, a junior majoring in kinesiology, said the biggest adjustment from high school to college was transitioning from small classes at HBCS to gatherings of 200-300 students in college.

Last month, she earned Sun Belt Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week for throwing the javelin a conference best 161-5 feet. She enjoyed immediate success as a true freshman, reaching the NCAA regionals.

“The regionals are divided into West and East,” she said. “We’re in the East. I’m seeded 16th out of 48 in the javelin. The top 12 will advance to the national championship meet.”

During the indoor season earlier this year, Barras set a new personal record when she placed 11th in the weight throw at the Sun Belt Conference championship meet.

She is the most accomplished female athlete in Highland Baptist history, winning countless track and field events and leading the basketball team to its best finish ever.

“I would tell high school student-athletes to especially listen to their coaches,” Barras said. “Let your coaches push you. It helps if you’re coachable because at any university or college, you’re going to need to retain what they tell you and build from that.”