LSU sprinter Barrett Nugent’s historic performance in the 110-meter hurdles and a sweep of the 4×200-meter relays spurred the LSU track and field teams during the weekend at the prestigious Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.
Nugent came into the Texas Relays as the third-ranked hurdler in the NCAA this season and ran a wind-aided 13.19 seconds to narrowly claim the 110-meter hurdle title against a star-studded field.
Both of the performers ranked ahead of Nugent entering the event, Texas Tech’s Omo Osaghae and Texas’ Keiron Stewart, couldn’t stop Nugent, who ran the second-fastest time in collegiate history and the fourth-quickest under any wind conditions in NCAA history.
“This is only a start of what I want to do this season at NCAAs,” said Nugent in a news release. “My goal is to win a championship, and that’s what I expect from myself and what my team needs me to do.”
The 4×200-meter relay squads provided highlight reels of their own for LSU on Saturday.
The men’s group of juniors Keyth Talley and Horatio Williams and seniors Tristan Walker and Gabriel Mvumvure ran a Texas Relay-record time of 1:20.45 seconds to capture the 4×200-meter relay title. The time also was good enough to set a school record by .4 seconds.
The Lady Tiger squad of juniors Rebecca Alexander, Semoy Hackett and Cassandra Tate and sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan would not be outdone as they followed with a dominating victory in the women’s 4×200-meter relay with a time of 1:30.88 seconds to defeat rival Texas A&M by more than a full second.
LSU’s three victories Saturday increased the Tigers’ total to four wins for the four-day event.
The women’s 4×800-meter relay team of sophomores Laura Carleton, Brea Goodman, Charlene Lipsey and senior Brittany Hall won with a time of 8:39.19 seconds to bring LSU its first victory of the competition on Thursday.
In the 100-meter dash, Hackett ran a wind-aided 10.98 seconds to finish second while sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan posted a time of 11.07 seconds and placed third.
“Across the board, I think our athletes just committed themselves to competing in a championship environment,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver in a news release.
 
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