LSU track and field competed at the SEC Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday and took home three event titles from Alia Armstrong, Sean Dixon-Bodie, and Eric Edwards Jr. at the Gilliam Indoor Stadium.

In the women’s high jump, Abigail O’Donoghue cleared a season-best bar of 6’ 2” (1.88 meters) to finish third. This mark moves her up into a tie for second on the national list for this season. This is O’Donoghue’s fifth career SEC medal when you combine indoor and outdoor performances. She has also scored a whopping 33 points at the SEC indoor meets in the high jump dating back to 2018, including the SEC title in 2019. Fellow jumper Nyagoa Bayak cleared a bar of 5’ 9.75” (1.77 meters) to earn a tie for sixth.

Favour Ofili, Leah Phillips, Alia Armstrong and Dorian Camel all qualified for the finals in two events.

In the 200 meters prelims, Ofili ran very well with a personal best of 22.61 to better her own previous African indoor record in the event. This time moved her up to No. 3 in both the LSU record book and the NCAA rankings this season. She now owns the fastest three times in African indoor history for the 200 meter with times of 22.61, 22.71 and 22.75. Ofili also advanced on to the finals of the 60 meters with a 7.21.

Alia Armstrong and Leah Phillips both advanced to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles with respective times of 7.95 and 8.06. Armstrong (7.21) also moved on to the finals of the 60-meter dash, and Phillips qualified for the finals of the 200-meter dash (23.20/PR). Eric Edwards Jr. qualified for the finals with a time of 7.76 and is LSU’s third finalist in the hurdles. 

Dorian Camel ran times of 6.68 in the 60-meter and 20.96 in the 200-meter to qualify for the finals. The time of 20.96 was a personal best for Camel. Katy-Ann McDonald had the top qualifying time in the 800 meters with a readout of 2:04.02. Distance runner Davis Bove qualified for the finals in the mile with a time of 4:02.01. Amber Anning was the final sprinter to advance out of qualifying with a time of 52.54 in the 400 meters.

On Friday, Morgan Smalls leaped to a fifth-place finish in the long jump with a best jump of 20’ 6.25” (6.25 meters) that earned LSU four points. Apalos Edwards (7th) and Ji’eem Bullock (8th) both scored at the SEC meet for the first time in their careers. Edwards registered a personal best long jump of 24’ 8.25” (7.52 meters), while Bullock earned his place with a leap of 24’ 6.25” (7.47 meters). Jon Nerdal contributed with two points in the weight throw as he took seventh with a best throw of 67’ 2.75” (20.49 meters).

The men’s distance medley relay team of Davis Bove, Aaron Smith, Dyllon Nimmers, and Eric Coston ran the eighth fastest time in LSU history of 9:45.39 to place sixth in the event. The women’s crew of Sara Funderburk, Garriel White, Hannah Carroll and Alicia Stamey placed eighth with a time of 11:23.65 to score a point.

Addison Stevenson and Jackson Martingayle ran impressive personal bests in the 5,000-meter run. Stevenson, in her first collegiate 5,000-meter run, clocked a time of 16:47.23 to become the third-fastest performer in LSU history. She finished 16th in the event. Martingayle moved into the No. 9 slot on the LSU list with a personal best time of 14:30.17 and finished 13th in the event.

The Tigers had twelve athletes advance out of the preliminary rounds to Saturday’s finals.

Armstrong was the first Tiger to win on Saturday with a personal best time of 7.11 seconds in the 60-meter dash. Armstrong becomes LSU’s 10th athlete to win an SEC title in the 60 meters and is the first since Mikiah Brisco won in 2018. Armstrong’s time of 7.11 moves her up to No. 3 in LSU history behind Aleia Hobbs and Mikiah Brisco. This time also is a 2022 NCAA lead and it makes her the 10th fastest performer in collegiate history.

Eric Edwards Jr. claimed the first SEC title of his career with a win in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.64. Edwards Jr. is the sixth LSU athlete to win an SEC title in the 60-meter hurdles and he made it back to back years for LSU winning the event after Damion Thomas won it a year ago.

Triple jumper Sean Dixon-Bodie entered the meet with the best mark in the SEC this season, but as he approached the runway for his sixth and final attempt, he sat in sixth place. That’s when he leaped to a career-best mark of 54’ 7.25” (16.64 meters) to move from sixth to first and win the title. This mark moved him into the No. 3 spot on the NCAA list this season and ranks No. 5 in LSU history.

Favour Ofili set the LSU school record in the 200-meter dash with a personal best time of 22.46 to win silver. Ofili’s 22.46 time broke Muna Lee’s (2003) previous school record of 22.49 seconds. Ofili finished as the runner-up to Kentucky’s Abby Steiner, who stormed away with the win with a collegiate record-setting time of 22.09. Ofili’s time of 22.46 ranks No. 2 in the world and NCAA this season. This also improves her own African record in the event, ranks No. 9 in collegiate history, and ranks No. 18 in world history.

Leah Phillips and Dorian Camel both scored in two events for the Tigers on Saturday. Phillips ran PRs of 7.97 in the 60-meter hurdles and 23.14 in the 200 meters to win eight points for the LSU women. Her time of 7.97 was particularly impressive as it was her first time running sub-eight seconds. This time moves her to No. 4 in LSU history and No. 6 in the NCAA this season. Camel scored seven points with a fifth-place finish in the 200 meters (20.90/PR) and a sixth-place finish in the 60 meters (6.71).

Freshman Apalos Edwards registered an indoor personal best of 52’ 10.75” (16. 12 meters) to place fifth at his first career SEC meet.

Katy-Ann McDonald ran the best indoor 800-meter race of her life with a time of 2:02.85 to finish as the runner-up. Her time is the No. 3 time in LSU history and the No. 3 time in the NCAA this season. Lisa Gunnarsson was the other runner-up for LSU as she cleared a bar of 14’ 4” (4.37 meters) to capture silver in the event.

John Meyer registered an indoor personal best in the shot put with a throw of 65’ 4” (19.91 meters) to secure his first SEC medal in third place. This mark moves him up to No. 9 in the NCAA this season and moves him up on LSU’s all-time list.

Roughly 23 hours after becoming the third-fastest 5k runner in LSU history, freshman Addison Stevenson ran a 3,000 meter personal best of 9:30.93 to move into the No. 3 spot on the LSU all-time list in that event. She finished 18th in the event.

The LSU women’s 4×400 meter relay of Amber Anning, Michaela Rose, Garriel White and Favour Ofili closed out the conference meet with a fifth-place finish and a season-best time of 3:32.46. This time earned them a bid to the NCAA Championships.

Sixteen LSU athletes from the track and field team have been selected to represent the Tigers at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships. The final collegiate indoor meet of the season will take place March 11-12 in Birmingham, Alabama at the Birmingham CrossPlex.