LSU hasn’t come home from the 117-year-old Penn State Relay Carnival without at least one relay title in 22 consecutive seasons.
In the latest addition to the history of the nation’s longest-running uninterrupted collegiate track meet, the Lady Tigers won two relay titles, with the men taking home one on a cold day in Philadelphia.
The women’s 4×200 team, consisting of juniors Latoya McDermott and Kimberlyn Duncanand seniors Rebecca Alexander and Semoy Hackett, took the gold medal with a time of 1:31.86 to give the Lady Tigers their 12th all-time event win at the Penn Relays.
LSU broke Texas A&M’s four-year winning streak in the event, beating the Aggie team by 0.39 seconds. Texas A&M is the next closest to the Lady Tigers in the 4×200 all-time win list with four event titles.
“This is a tough race to run when the weather is like it is today,” Duncan said in a news release. “Rebecca got me the stick in good position, so I just wanted to run the turn hard and keep it going strong coming down the straightaway.”
The Tigers snapped a five-year losing streak in the 4×400 relay with their 3:04.47 come-from-behind win against host Penn State (3:04.78).
Freshman sprinter Quincy Downing replaced junior All-American Caleb Williams, who suffered a minor injury during the Tigers’ last meet at the LSU Alumni Gold Meet. But the team of Downing and seniors Robert Simmons, Ade Alleyne-Forte and Riker Hylton were able to come together for the win.
“This will help get us mentally focused and know that we have it in us to go out there and do our best each time,” Hylton said in a news release. “We’ll just continue to drive and try to be successful the rest of the year.”
Sophomore hurdler Jasmin Stowers highlighted LSU’s weekend in the individual events, making Lady Tiger history as the first athlete to win two 100-meter hurdle titles in a career at the Penn Relays.
Stowers defended her crown with a time of 13.05 seconds, making a last-second comeback against Adams State senior Indira Spence after a self-admitted weak start to the race.
“It didn’t help that I got off to a really bad start,” Stowers said in a news release. “I knew she was ahead of me, so I made sure to quicken my steps and move my arms faster to get over the hurdles quicker.”
 
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Contact Michael Gegenheimer at [email protected]