Things just keep getting better for LSU junior Walter Henning.
Henning, the NCAA leader in the weight throw, broke the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championship meet record, along with his own personal best, with a throw of 78 feet, 1 inch to lead off LSU on the second day of the meet.
Henning’s win places him into history as one of only four throwers to win two SEC titles in the weight throw.
“My goal coming into the meet was to get the win and score 10 points for my team. I’m very happy about what we were able to do today in the very first event of the meet,” Henning said in a news release. “Knowing that it was the SEC meet record makes it even better. I don’t think it was the prettiest throw in the world or anything like that, but it was just what we needed to get off to a fast start. I’m proud of that.”
LSU had a good day all around in the field events.
Sophomore Michael Lauro placed third with a mark of 67 feet, 2 and 3/4 inches, missing second place by less than an inch.
Sophomore Rachel Laurent took second in the women’s pole vault with a mark of 14 feet, 3 ½ inches, a personal best. Senior Katelyn Rodrigue tied for seventh in the event.
Junior Zedric Thomas placed fourth in the men’s long jump, with a jump of 25, 5 ¼ inches. Freshman Damar Forbes took eighth in his SEC championship debut.
In the women’s long jump, junior Melissa Ogbourne placed third with a jump of 19 feet, 11 inches. Freshman Brittany Porter’s mark of 19 feet, 7 inches placed seventh.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers had good showings in the preliminary track events.
Junior Tenaya Jones placed eighth in the 60-meter hurdles to qualify for finals on Sunday. Sophomore Barrett Nugent placed second in the 60-meter hurdles to qualify for the men’s finals.
Two Lady Tigers, junior Kenyanna Wilson and freshman Takeia Pinckney qualified for the finals of the 60-meter dash.
Junior Alan Sticker placed sixth to qualify for finals in the mile run. The Tigers had three qualifiers in the 400- meter dash as freshman Caleb Williams placed fifth, sophomore Robert Simmons placed sixth, and senior Armanti Hayes placed eighth.
The middle distance runners had an outstanding day, as four Lady Tigers and two Tigers qualified for finals tomorrow in the 800-meter run. Four Lady Tiger qualifiers and one Tiger qualifier in the 200-meter dash followed them.
Going into the finals tomorrow, the Tigers sit in third place with the Lady Tigers in fourth.
Head coach Dennis Shaver said everyone must have great performances in their respective events tomorrow if they want to pull ahead.
“I thought both of our teams did what they had to do in qualifying today to put themselves in a position to compete tomorrow afternoon,” Shaver said in a news release. “But it’s now up to them to get back out there and give everything they’ve got tomorrow if we want to come away with the result we want. We look forward to the challenge and the opportunity that we have.”
The meet begins at 10 a.m tomorrow, with the final event set to begin at 4 p.m.
—-Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected].