The LSU women’s track and field team mounted a valiant effort for the team title at the SEC Championships on Saturday at the Ole Miss Track & Field Facility but finished third in the team standings just behind Florida (107) and Arkansas (103) with 96.5 points. Star sprinter, Favour Ofili, spearheaded the charge as she won two individual titles and was a part of LSU’s winning 4×100 meter women’s relay.
It was the duel that everyone has been waiting for this year as Ofili was facing off against Kentucky’s Abby Steiner. Ofili showed out on Saturday as the world of track and field had their eyes on the SEC meet. Ofili was the winner all day as she won head-to-head against Steiner in both the 100 and 200-meter races.
Ofili teamed up with Alia Armstrong, Tionna Beard-Brown and Thelma Davies to win LSU’s sixth straight conference title in the 4×100 meter women’s relay. The foursome ran a season-best of 42.59 to set the Ole Miss facility record. Ofili then ran the 100 meters where she won with a time of 10.93 that matched her career-best. She also battled a slight headwind making her the fastest in collegiate history into a headwind in the 100 meters.
Ofili closed out the night with a convincing win in the 200 meters as she clocked 22.04. This time went below Ofili’s meet and facility record from Thursday night as well.
“Everything that I have, everything I’ve done here, it’s all by the grace of God,” Ofili said after winning the 200-meter title. “Competing with Abby, we know we are going to run fast times together. I’m just happy to be healthy and I give God all the glory. “I just went out there and stuck to my race plan. It was a wonderful day for me and my teammates, and these moments that have been created won’t soon be forgotten.”
Ofili becomes the first sprinter to win the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 meter relay at the SEC Championships since LSU’s Sha’Carri Richardson did so back in 2019. Ofili was awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy on Saturday night. The trophy is given to the individual who scores the most points at the conference meet. She is the ninth LSU women’s athlete to win the Commissioner’s Trophy and the first to do so since Kimberlyn Duncan won it back in 2013.
Alia Armstrong completed the 2022 SEC hurdles sweep as she won the 100-meter hurdles with a slightly wind-aided time of 12.46. It marks the second year in a row that LSU has won the 100-meter hurdles as Tonea Marshall did so last year.
Katy-Ann McDonald gave her all this week as she was a finalist in both the 1,500 meters and 800 meters. She ran a personal best and improved her school record in the 1,500 meters to 4:12.30 for a third-place finish. She then returned to the track 80 minutes later to compete in the 800-meter race with teammate Michaela Rose. Rose ran a personal best of 2:02.49 to place second and McDonald clocked a time of 2:03.09 for fourth place.
Lisa Gunnarsson’s bid for her first career SEC outdoor title came up just short as she cleared a bar of 4.45 meters for the runner-up finish. Amber Hart scored at her first SEC outdoor meet with a throw of 53.74 meters to finish fourth in the discus and LSU’s final scorer of the day was Tionna Beard-Brown with a time of 11.45, which placed fifth in the 100-meter race.
LSU’s men’s SEC champions were Eric Edwards Jr. and Sean Dixon-Bodie. Edwards Jr. clocked a career-best time of 13.28 seconds to win the 110-meter hurdle title and that time moves him up to No. 2 in LSU history. Dixon-Bodie completed the SEC indoor and outdoor sweep in the triple jump with an impressive season-best mark of 16.36 meters on his sixth and final attempt of the evening. Teammate Apalos Edwards notched a personal best mark of 16.24 meters, which placed second in the triple jump. That 1-2 finish for the Tigers accumulated 18 points for the Purple and Gold.
Dorian Camel scored in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and as part of the 4×400 meter relay. His day started with a personal best time of 10.11, which placed third and moved him up into the No. 7 spot on the all-time LSU list in the 100 meters. Camel followed that up with another bronze performance in the 200 meters with a time of 20.43. He then ran the lead leg of LSU’s 4×400 meter relay that clocked a time of 3:05.92 to place fourth. His teammates in that relay were Sean Burrell, Aaron Smith, and Ashton Hicks.
Godson Oghenebrume scored at his first SEC outdoor meet when he finished with a time of 10.16, which placed fifth in the 100 meters, and Sean ‘Squirrel’ Burrell earned a point for the Tigers in the 400-meter hurdles with a readout of 51.57. The LSU men finished seventh in the team standings with 70 team points.
Next up for the Tigers’ track and field team is the NCAA East Preliminaries in Bloomington, Indiana. The four-day meet on May 25-28 advances athletes to the NCAA Championships. The national meet will once again be hosted in Eugene, Oregon, from June 8-11.
