The LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams wrapped up the Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday with one event title and six personal bests.
The LSU men’s 4×200-meter relay team led the Tigers and Lady Tigers with the only victory of the meet. The team consisting of junior sprinter Darrell Bush, sophomore sprinter Tremayne Acy, junior sprinter Fitzroy Dunkley and senior sprinter Aaron Ernest won LSU’s first Texas Relays title since 2011 with a winning time of one minute and 22.60 seconds.
Senior hurdler Joshua Thompson just missed out on the event title in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. He finished as the silver-medalist in the event after clocking a personal-best time at 13.68 seconds, finishing just more than one-tenth of a second off the lead.
Running in the men’s 200-meter dash, Ernest finished in fifth place but was the top finisher among college athletes. He crossed the line within half a second of professional sprinters Anaso Jobodwana, Kei Takase, Aldrich Bailey Jr. and Maurice Mitchell.
Senior thrower Tori Bliss led the Lady Tigers with a bronze-medal finish in the women’s discus throw. Bliss, fresh off silver-medal performance in the women’s shot put at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships, unleashed the discus for a personal-best 178 feet, four inches on her second attempt.
The Lady Tigers’ youthful 4×100-meter relay team impressed with a seasonal-best time for third place. The team of freshman sprinter Mikiah Brisco, freshman sprinter Aleia Hobbs, sophomore sprinter Jada Martin and sophomore jumper Nataliyah Friar sprinted to the finish line in 44.66 seconds, finishing less than a second behind the winning team.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers hope to continue setting personal-best times at the Battle of the Bayou meet on April 4 at Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge.