The Tigers and Lady Tigers kept right on track Saturday in their quest for another indoor national title.
The No. 2 Lady Tigers took home three event titles while senior Damar Forbes won the men’s long jump for the Tigers’ only event championship.
“In as many years as we’ve come to the Tyson Invitational, I don’t recall another time where we have had as good of a meet with both of our teams over the two days of competition,” said LSU coach Dennis Shaver in a news release. “We did nothing but give ourselves a better opportunity to compete at the NCAA meet with some of the performances turned in by both of our teams this weekend.”
Junior Lady Tiger sprinter Kimberlyn Duncan, who has dominated the 200-meter dash, won the event for the 12th consecutive time.
Duncan currently holds five of the world’s top seven times for the 2012 season with only Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross clocking in a faster time.
Duncan missed a new personal best by .01 seconds with her time of 23.23 in Fayetteville, Ark. The mark sits her in sole possession of the top two spots in the NCAA on the season.
“Our kids really stepped it up and competed well more than anything tonight,” Shaver said. “I think times we saw were just a product of that. They were able to go out there and lay it on the line, and compete with many of the same teams we’re going to see a few weeks from now at the NCAA Championships.”
Sophomore thrower Denise Hinton surpassed her personal best in the weight toss for the fifth straight week.
Hinton broke her own school record for the third straight week with a throw of 66-11 1/4 feet which currently sits her at No. 15 in the nation.
A pair of top performances rounded out the meet with both the men’s and women’s sides in the 4×400-meter relay posting top two finishes.
The Lady Tigers set the NCAA mark Saturday, with an event winning time of 3:31.55, pushing LSU ahead of national championship contenders Texas and Arkansas.
The Tigers’ relay team set a 2012 personal best (3:05.41) with a second place finish behind an Arkansas team that put up the nation’s best time (3:03.76).
“Our teams really showed some depth this weekend,” Shaver said. “I’m proud of the way we competed in all of the event areas to give ourselves an opportunity to compete in the championship meets.”
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Contact Michael Gegenheimer at [email protected]