The LSU track and field teams finished their 2014 indoor track seasons this weekend with an 8th place overall finish for the men and a 12th place overall finish for the women at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Sophomores Darrell Bush and Cyril Grayson teamed with juniors Quincy Downing and Vernon Norwood to place first in the 4X400-meter relay and give LSU its claim to at least one indoor event championship for the fifth straight year.
“What a way for both of our teams to go out in this national championship,” said LSU track and field Coach Dennis Shaver. “You could tell just how much this championship meant to each and every one of our athletes that lined up today.”
LSU finished third to Texas A&M and Florida in the 4X400-meter relay at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships, but this weekend, the Tigers led the race from start to finish.
Bush, who learned of his grandmother’s passing only hours before competing, raced out to the lead for the Tigers before handing the baton to Downing with a five-meter lead.
“I put it all on the line for my team, and they had my back, “Bush said. “I did it for my grandma too, thinking of her. It was just an emotional race for all of us tonight. “
Texas A&M’s Gregory Coleman and Florida’s Dedric Dukes collided with one another on the third leg, disqualifying both teams.
Norwood sealed the result for the Tigers with a swift 45.05 second split on the anchor leg. A little more than an hour before, Norwood took silver in the men’s 400 meter dash.
Oregon’s men’s and women’s teams swept the National Championships, marking the third time in NCAA history a school has swept the titles.
Senior Denise Hinton became the first Lady Tiger in school history to earn All-America honors in the weight throw, with a best throw of 70 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Hinton finished in fifth place.
Senior Jasmin Stowers finished third in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, ending her career with consecutive bronze medals in the event and four All-American honors from 2011-14.
She broke a 14-year-old LSU school record, crossing the line in 7.94 seconds and finishing one hundreth of a second behind Arkansas State’s Sharika Nelvis and Baylor’s Tiffani McReynolds.
“You could tell just how much this championship meant to each and every one of our athletes that lined up today.”