Several track and field athletes set meet and school records at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City this past weekend. The Lady Tigers won the overall team title by a whopping 42 points over runner-up Texas A&M. The Tigers finished third behind Texas and Kentucky. “In all of the meets that I’ve been a part of at LSU, I can’t remember a better performance from our team this early in the season,” LSU coach Dennis Shaver said in a news release. “You can see that we’re starting to build momentum for the championship season.” Senior sprinter Richard Thompson and junior sprinter Trindon Holliday finished first and second in the men’s 60-meter dash, respectively. Thompson broke his own school record in the event for the second time this season with an NCAA-leading time of 6.57 seconds. Holliday ran a personal best 6.61 seconds, good enough for third in the NCAA this season behind Thompson and Clemson sophomore C.J. Spiller. “This is actually the first time that the two of us have ever raced [against each other] in competition,” Thompson said in a news release. “Trindon is such a great athlete and a great competitor that you have to be at your best to beat him when you line up against him.” Senior sprinter Kelly Baptiste edged out teammate Samantha Henry by 0.01 seconds to win the 60-meter dash title in a meet-record 7.17 seconds. Baptiste and Henry’s times in the 60-meter dash are the two fastest times in the NCAA this season. Baptiste also garnered a runner-up finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.46 seconds. She was named Female Athlete of the Meet for her performance. Senior hurdler Jessica Ohanaja broke her own meet record in the 60-meter hurdles with a winning time of 8.12 seconds. “I was probably a little bit behind after the third hurdle,” Ohanaja said. “I kept my composure, tightened my form and quickened my steps over the last two.” Sophomore LaTavia Thomas won the 800 meter race in a meet-record 2 minutes, 4.66 seconds. Thomas bettered former Lady Tiger Neisha Bernard-Thomas’ old record of 2 minutes, 4.97 seconds, set in 2004. Sophomore distance runner John Kosgei set a school record in the 3,000 meter race with a time of 7 minutes, 55.49 seconds. Kosgei missed automatically qualifying for the NCAA Indoor championships by less than one second. “Becoming the school-record holder in his first 3,000-meter race here at LSU is all you need to know about how talented of a runner he is,” Shaver said. “We’re going to really count on John [Kosgei] this year and what heÕs going to give us in the distance events.”