The LSU track and field team ran into an impressive Texas A&M squad in an early-season indoor dual meet Saturday between the two prestigious track powers.
Despite an outstanding day for Tiger senior Walter Henning, the Aggies bested the LSU men’s squad by a tight 84-75 margin, and junior Semoy Hackett’s strong sprints couldn’t prevent a 91-67 defeat for the LSU women’s team.
LSU and Texas A&M both entered the meet with high preseason expectations, as the Tigers enjoyed a No. 2 ranking and the Lady Tigers held the No. 3 spot, and vice versa for Texas A&M.
Legendary former Tiger coach Pat Henry, who won 27 total national championships in his time at LSU, now serves as head coach for the Aggies, guiding them to back-to-back sweeps of the men’s and women’s outdoor national titles in the past two years.
For the Lady Tigers, it was the sprint events that provided some early season highlights.
Hackett defeated Texas A&M All-American Jeneba Tarmoh by just 0.03 in the 60-meter dash final heat with a time of 7.24 seconds, matching her personal best and assuring Hackett an automatic berth at the Indoor Track and Field Championships.
This year’s Indoor Track and Field Championships will also be held at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium at Texas A&M in March.
“Competing against a team like Texas A&M allowed our athletes an opportunity to compete against a premier program on the very track we’re going to see again when we do come back for the NCAA Championships,” coach Dennis Shaver said in a news release. “Running on the bank for the first time was important for us.”
Along with her victory in the 60-meter, Hackett, the nation’s No. 3-ranked sprinter, also took third place in a tightly contested 200-meter dash final, losing by just three one-hundredths of a second to Aggie sprinter Jessica Beard.
Also winning individual events for the Lady Tigers were senior Brittany Hall in the 800 meters, senior Brittani Carter in the high jump, senior Melissa Ogbourne in the triple jump and junior Samia Stokes in the weight throw.
On the men’s side, the field and jumping events were bright spots in a close meet with the No. 3 Aggies.
Henning threw an NCAA-leading 72-3 3/4 feet in the weight throw, earning him an automatic bid to March’s Indoor Championship, where he will defend his national crown from last season.
He then continued his impressive afternoon with a dominant victory in the shot put just minutes later, earning the Tigers five more points.
Sophomore Damar Forbes maintained his spectacular early-season form by winning the long jump one week after setting a personal-best mark in the event during last weekend’s Purple Tiger Invitational.
Other men’s individual winners included junior All-American Barrett Nugent in the 60-meter hurdles, senior Josh Dominguez in the pole vault and junior Kyron Blaise in the triple jump.
 
 
____
Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]