The LSU track and field teams used sophomore Walter Henning’s record weight throw and a dominant performance from sprint squads at the LSU Twilight on Friday to propel the Tigers toward this weekend’s Southeastern Conference Championships.
Henning, defending NCAA indoor champion in the weight throw, added to his already impressive season with four throws over 75 feet.
Henning’s successes included a mark of 76-6 1/4 feet that set a new Carl Maddox Field House record and extended his NCAA season lead to nearly six feet.
Henning is on the watch list for The Bowerman Award, one of collegiate track and field’s most prestigious honors, and is favored to win his third-straight SEC weight throw crown this weekend.
“I’m coming around at the right time with the SEC and NCAA Championships right around the corner for our team,” said Henning in a news release. “We’re really excited about the potential we have these next couple of weeks.”
In the sprints, the men’s and women’s squads swept the top two spots in the 60-meter dash.
For the Lady Tigers, sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan narrowly clipped senior All-American Kenyanna Wilson by just .01 seconds to claim the victory.
On the men’s side, junior standout Horatio Williams bested teammate Gabriel Mvumvure with a time of 6.64 seconds to capture the 60-meter dash title.
Continuing the impressive day in 60-meter events for the Lady Tigers was a tightly contested 60-meter hurdles battle between senior Tenaya Jones and freshman Jasmin Stowers.
After barely edging Stowers in the preliminary heat, Jones again topped the freshman by a slim margin of .02 seconds in the final heat to take first place.
Twilight included mostly in-state schools and regional foes, the Tigers using the meet as a warm up for this weekend’s trip to Arkansas.
The Tigers travel to the SEC Indoor Championship meet at Randal Tyson Track Center, where LSU has already competed twice this season.
“We’ve got a little momentum with the SEC Championships coming up,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver in a news release. “It’s now time for us to give everything we’ve got to try to go to Fayetteville and win a championship.”
 
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Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]