The LSU women’s track and field team saved its best for last on the track while a young field athlete took top honors during the final day of competition at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.
Freshman Rachel Laurent won the pole vault, finishing with a mark of 14 feet, 1 1/4 inches. The freshman became the first Lady Tiger ever to win the event, and the mark put her at No. 1 in the NCAA this season.
A team of sophomore Brittany Hall, freshman Cassandra Tate, senior Kayann Thompson and junior LaTavia Thomas won the 4×400-meter relay, the last event of the day for both the men and women’s teams, with a new NCAA-best time of 3 minutes, 31.81 seconds.
The foursome finished ahead of favorite Texas (3:32.57) to secure the victory for the second year in a row.
The men came close in their 4×400-meter relay, finishing in second with their fastest time of the year at 3 minutes, 5.97 seconds.
The men’s 4×100-meter relay team snapped their five-year consecutive win streak in the event, placing in third with a time of 39.10 seconds.
Senior Trindon Holliday, who ran on the 4×100 team, finished second on the day in the 100-meter sprint with a time of 10.12 seconds, to give him the No. 1 time in the NCAA this season. Rae Edwards of Hobson’s Choice was the only athlete to finish ahead of him (10.10 seconds).
 
—-Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]