Three members of the LSU track teams earned NCAA automatic-qualifying spots Friday night when the Tigers hosted the NCAA Indoor Qualifying meet, held for those who had not already earned a bid for the national meet.
Senior weight thrower Michael Lauro was the lone Tiger to qualify at the “last-chance” meet, while sophomore weight thrower Denise Hinton and fellow sophomore triple jumper Lynnika Pitts qualified for the Lady Tigers.
Hinton had a disappointing performance at the Southeastern Conference Championships last week, when the Lady Tigers’ record holder wasn’t able to make it out of the preliminary round.
Hinton bounced back at the NCAA qualifier and broke her own school record, good for the nation’s No. 6 throw this season. The throw earned her a spot in the NCAA Championships.
“She didn’t throw well [last week],” said LSU coach Dennis Shaver. “She didn’t even make the final at the SEC championship, so I was pretty disappointed in that. We’ll see how she does at the national meet.”
Lauro improved his personal best three times on the night including a 72-6 1/4 foot throw on his final attempt to put him in the NCAA meet at the No. 6 spot.
“Last week, I was being too methodical at the beginning of the throw,” Lauro said in a news release. “[Friday], I pushed the ball harder at the start of the throw so there was no hesitation on the third and fourth turns. That’s what I need to be sure to do at nationals so I can score some big points for our team next weekend.”
Pitts rounded out LSU’s qualifiers with a 42-9 3/4 foot triple jump on her final attempt that landed her in the No. 8 spot in the nation.
The jump bested her previous personal record of 42-2 3/4 feet, after she surpassed the mark on her second attempt with a 42-3 1/2 foot jump.
“We got done several things we were specifically trying to get done, and that’s why we host the meet,” Shaver said. “We were successful in that if we have success tomorrow at Iowa State then I think we’ll be in good shape going into the NCAA meet.”
LSU had two sprinters compete in Iowa State’s qualifier Saturday, when senior Riker Hylton and freshman Aaron Ernest attempted to qualify for NCAA.
Hylton was able to improve to the No. 19 spot in the men’s 400-meter dash, which puts him on the bubble for the national meet.
After the official list of NCAA participants is released today, the Tiger qualifiers will travel to Nampa, Idaho, from March 9-10 for the national meet.
 
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Contact Michael Gegenheimer at [email protected]