Freshman Rachel Laurent hadn’t cleared 13 feet this season in the pole vault. But that changed Saturday at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., with her NCAA automatic qualifying mark and LSU indoor record jump of 13 feet, 9 1/4 inches.The mark, which tied her for No. 6 in the NCAA this season, topped the previous indoor school record of 13 feet, 6 1/2 inches set by junior Katelyn Rodrigue a year ago. She joins junior LaTavia Thomas as the second Lady Tiger to automatically qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13-14.Runway damage postponed the event from Friday to Saturday, causing a long delay for the 39 vaulters. “I wasn’t sure how today was going to go since I had to get here at 7:30 a.m. I’ve never had to do anything like that before,” Laurent said in a news release. “I felt very anxious and couldn’t wait to get out there and compete.”Meanwhile, the 400-meter dash stood out for two Tigers.Freshman Robert Simmons finished third in the event with a personal-best time of 46.55 seconds, eclipsing his previous personal best of 47.79 seconds at the Southeastern Conference/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 31.The third-place finish gave Simmons the third-fastest time in the NCAA this year and put him at No. 8 all-time for LSU in the event. He finished behind Georgia freshman Torrin Lawrence, who set a world-leading time of 46.18 seconds, and unattached sprinter Terrance Reid (46.50).”Robert ran a great race today,” LSU coach Dennis Shaver said in a news release. “That’s exactly what we’re looking for from our team this year as we prepare for the championship meets.”Junior Armanti Hayes recorded his first NCAA provisional qualifying time of the year with a personal-best indoor time of 46.93 in the same event, taking sixth place overall.Sophomore Walter Henning remained unbeaten in the weight throw after a throw of 72 feet, 3 3/4 inches — 8 feet farther than the nearest competitor.  But he was not the only LSU weight thrower to make headlines. Junior Kim Williams recorded the fourth-best throw in Lady Tigers’ history with a personal-best weight throw of 58 feet, 5 1/4 inches.Thomas finished with a season-best time of 54.13 seconds in the 400 meters, while sophomore Kenyanna Wilson set a new personal best of 7.37 seconds finishing third in the 60-meter dash. Both Lady Tigers set NCAA provisional qualifying times.With the SEC Indoor Championships two weeks away, Shaver was not impressed with the men’s overall performance.”While the women did well, I can’t really say the same thing about our men’s team as a whole,” Shaver said. “I was looking for continued improvement from them this week, and they simply failed to step it up as a group and be competitive. If no changes take place over the next two weeks, they will not positively represent LSU at the SEC meet.”Contact Rowan Kavner [email protected]