In what figured to be a relatively quiet day for the LSU track and field teams, one shocking development emerged at the end of the second day of the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.
Senior All-American Walter Henning failed to win his event for the first time since the 2009 outdoor championships.
The Kings Park, N.Y., native had won 18 consecutive meets in both the indoor weight throw and outdoor hammer throw — including last season’s Texas Relays — before finishing fifth with a throw of 207-7 on Thursday night.
The meet is half finished, but only a handful of LSU athletes competed in the first two days because most of the events were geared toward the heptathalon and decathalon — two events in which LSU doesn’t compete.
The majority of LSU’s roster will see its first action today, including the vaunted relay teams.
Most of Friday’s action features the preliminaries for all the relay events, and LSU’s teams should be near the top of the standings.
The Tigers’ foursome of senior Gabriel Mvumvure and juniors Horatio Williams, Barrett Nugent, Keyth Talley are tied with Florida State for the NCAA’s fastest 4×100-meter relay time with a 38.87-second mark they set in the preliminaries March 25 at the LSU relays.
The Lady Tigers feature a prominent 4×100 team, as well, as senior Kenyanna Wilson, junior Semoy Hackett, sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan and freshman Toshika Sylvester ran the nation’s second-fastest time in the event with a 43.48-second time at last weekend’s LSU Invitational.
Nugent will also run the preliminary in the 110-meter hurdles Friday.
Nugent ran a seasonal-best time of 13.58 seconds at the LSU Invitational, good for third on the current national performance list.
The relay teams got off to a good start at the meet, as the Lady Tigers 4×800 team won a tight race in the final Thursday night.
Senior Brittany Hall and sophomores Laura Carleton and Brea and Dakota Goodman raced finished the eight laps around the track in 8:39.19 to secure a narrow two-second victory.
Henning’s little sister, freshman Karen Henning, finished fifth in the women’s weight throw, with a mark of 183-2.
Karen Henning was preceded by junior thrower Brieanna Kennedy, who took fourth place in the event with a 184-4 throw. Both throwers set new personal records.
 
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]