LSU finishes eighth in SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships, now preparing for NCAA Championships

By Chloe Richmond

March 5, 2023

Tarun Kakarala

LSU men’s track and field junior thrower Luke Witte preforms a throw at the LSU twilight meet during the weight throw event on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, at the Carl Maddox Field House in Baton Rouge, La.

The Tigers traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas for The SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships last weekend and finished in eighth place with three individual title wins.

Heading into the championship, the LSU women’s track team had high expectations. The Tigers went into the match as the No. 4 seed in the SEC, falling at No. 8 in the National TFRI poll behind No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Florida and No. 6 Alabama.

Despite a decorated team with high rankings from the women’s team, the Tigers struggled to deliver. After the first day of the event, the women’s track team was in 11th place out of 14.

The first score on Friday for the women’s team came from Morgan Smalls during the long jump. Smalls finished with a leap of 6.30m on her third attempt of the day, making the best leap of her season. She finished in fifth place, gathering four points for the Tigers.

The second and final scoring event for the women’s team was the distance medley relay. Lorena Rangel Batres, Hannah Douglas, Cindy Bourdier and Callie Hardy ran the race together and finished in eighth place with a time of 11:23.73. The group’s time gave the Tigers one point, finishing the women’s first day of the championship with five points.

The men’s track team has been in and out of the National TFRI rankings all season, peaking at No. 25 in the second week. The men’s team went into the championship as the No. 12 seed in the SEC.

Coming in at No. 27 in the National TFRI poll, the Tigers were behind No. 1 Arkansas, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 7 Florida, No. 10 Georgia, No. 12 Alabama, No. 14 Kentucky, No. 17 South Carolina, No. 18 Texas A&M, No. 20 Mississippi State, No. 21 Ole Miss and No. 24 Auburn.

Beau Domingue finished seventh in the pole vault with a clearing of 5.20m to put the men’s team on the board with two points. Luke Witte competed in the men’s weight throw, finishing with a throw of 21.46m on his fourth attempt. Witte’s fourth-place finish added five points to the board for LSU and concluded the men’s first day of the championship with seven total points.

On the second day of the competition, the women’s team gathered points seven times in six events. Smalls was the first to put LSU on the board again with a 1.80m clearing in the high jump event. She stood on the podium in third place, giving the Tigers six points.

Batres ran the mile for the Tigers and finished in sixth place. Her time of 4:41.95 added three points to the sheet.

In the 800-meter event, two athletes earned points for the women’s team. Michaela Rose took home first place with a time of 2:01.09 and added 10 points to the team’s total. Bourdier finished in fourth place with a time of 2:05.04 and added five points.

Leah Phillips competed in the 60-meter hurdles event and finished in fourth place. With a time of 8.05, she earned five points.

Favour Ofili contributed greatly to the total score for the LSU women’s team. In the 60-meter event, she finished in sixth place with a time of 7.24 to give the Tigers three more points. Ofili also competed in the 200-meter event and ran away with a first-place finish of 22.52. She added 10 more points to finalize the score for the women’s team.

The men’s team got off to a hot start with John Meyer winning first place in the shot-put event. Breaking a program record, Meyer threw a distance of 20.37m to earn 10 points for the Tigers.

Podium finishes continued to roll in for the Tigers as Apalos Edwards finished third in the triple jump. His leap of 16.84m added six points to the board. Davis Bove finished second in the mile run with a time of 4:02.67, gathering eight points.

Godson Oghenebrume competed in the 60-meter event and finished with a time of 6.64. His third-place finish earned six points.

The last event the Tigers placed in was the 800 meters. Alex Selles earned fifth place to add four points after a time of 1:50.07. Parker McBride also earned points from the 800-meter event, finishing behind Selles in sixth place with a time of 1:51.53. His three points finalized the score for the Tigers.

The women’s track team finished the weekend with 47 points, giving the team eighth place. The men’s track team’s finish was identical to the women’s, finishing in eighth place with 47 points.

The NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships will take place on March 10-11 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The women’s team heads into the competition at No. 12 nationally while the men’s team sits at No. 18.

After an unexpected finish for both teams at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Tigers look to finish strong before heading into the outdoor season.

About the Contributor

Chloe Richmond, Digital Editor

Why did you join the Reveille?

I wanted to push myself outside of my comfort zone. Considering I never shared my writing throughout high school, I’d say the Reveille has aided me well.

What positions have you held at the Reveille?

I was a sports reporter for three semesters. I covered beach volleyball and volleyball.

What's your favorite thing about working at the Reveille?

Aside from the rewarding feeling of seeing my byline on the Internet and in print, my favorite thing about working at the Reveille hands down is the community. I love my cool writer friends.

What's your favorite story that you've written so far?

Everyone will tell you that I’m the biggest Nebraska volleyball fan, so naturally, my favorite story is my comparison between LSU and Nebraska volleyball. A couple of honorable mentions go out to my 2023 SEC volleyball breakdown and the profile I did on former LSU volleyball player Josie Vondran.

What do you hope to do after graduation?

I want to work in the Big Ten conference on the women's volleyball beat (if you couldn't guess). My ideal situation would involve me generating feature/profile stories that highlight athletes as people beyond their sport.

Where can you be found on social media?

My Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) are both @chlorichmond. You can find me on Linkedin as well.