Despite making history, LSU’s track and field teams came up short in their goal of winning a national championship.
The Lady Tigers were runners-up while the Tigers finished fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 14 and 15 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arizona State won both team championships, becoming the second school in history and first since LSU in 2004 to sweep the men’s and women’s titles.
The Lady Tigers came up with a two-day total of 43 points behind Arizona State’s 51 points.
Arizona State (44), Florida State (41) and Texas (34) finished just ahead of the Tigers (33).
Both teams combined for 12 All-Americans and four event champions.
“You can’t point to any one thing for why we didn’t win the track meet,” LSU coach Dennis Shaver said. “I thought the kids competed extremely well and wore the purple and gold and the LSU across their chest with a lot of pride.”
LSU’s performances were highlighted by senior sprinters Kelly-Ann Baptiste and Richard Thompson, who became the first teammates in NCAA history to sweep the 60-meter dash titles at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Baptiste earned her first individual indoor title with a time of 7.17 seconds. Sophomore Samantha Henry finished fifth with a time of 7.24 seconds.
Thompson, like Baptiste, won his first individual title with a school and meet record time of 6.51 seconds. Junior Trindon Holliday finished second to Thompson with a time of 6.54 seconds.
The competition between Holliday and Thompson highlighted the first day of action at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Holliday broke the school record in the 60-meter dash in the first preliminary heat with a time of 6.55 seconds. Not to be outdone, Thompson recorded his blistering time seven minutes later in the second heat to break Holliday’s record.
Thompson equaled his preliminary time in the finals.
“I saw what Trindon did before my race, but I wasn’t focused on it at all,” Thompson said in a news release. “I was worrying about winning my heat and qualifying for [the finals].”
Holliday said he was not focused on the record either.
“We came out with the same goal, and that was to just [qualify] for the final,” Holliday said in a news release. “I didn’t want to come out wanting to break any records.”
Sophomore LaTavia Thomas won the women’s 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 5.07 seconds, becoming the first Lady Tiger to win the event since Marian Burnett in 2002.
Senior Elkana Kosgei finished second in the men’s 800-meter run with a time of 1 minute, 49.47 seconds. Junior Reuben Twijukye came in fifth at 1 minute, 49.66 seconds.
Senior Jessica Ohanaja and junior Nickiesha Wilson finished fifth and sixth in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, respectively. Ohanaja ran a season-best 8.08 seconds, while Wilson finished in 8.12 seconds.
The women’s 4×400-meter relay team won their fifth all-time indoor title. Wilson, Thomas and seniors Brooklynn Morris and Deonna Lawrence won the event in 3 minutes, 31.14 seconds.
The teams wasted no time to start the outdoor season, traveling to Arizona this past weekend to compete in the Willie Williams Classic in Tucson, Ariz.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers racked up 20 qualifiers for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships on March 22 at the Williams Classic.
Athletes who qualified for the regional meet include Morris and Lawrence, (400-meter dash), senior Reggie Dardar (400 meters) and freshman Gabriel Mvumvure (100 and 200 meters).
—-Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]