Aided by impressive finishes in the triple jump and sprint events, the LSU track and field team bounced back from defeats to Texas A&M last weekend with strong performances Friday and Saturday in the Razorback Invitational.
Junior transfer Kyron Blaise continued his early season success, placing second in the triple jump with a jump of 53-4 1/2 feet.
The jump automatically qualified Blaise for March’s Indoor Track & Field Championship, joining five other LSU men and women just three meets into the season.
“This was really the first meet that [Kyron] has triple jumped for us,” said LSU coach Dennis Shaver. “That says a lot about his performance since he exceeded his personal best in what was essentially his season debut.”
Along with Blaise, two other Tigers finished in the top five of the triple jump. Senior Zedric Thomas and sophomore Damar Forbes placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers also shined in the 60-meter dash, with junior Horatio Williams capturing the men’s title with a time of 6.63 seconds and sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan leading a total of four Lady Tigers in the top five with a personal-best time of 7.38 seconds en route to her own title.
Sprinter Semoy Hackett, a junior transfer and the reigning Southeastern Conference Female Runner of the Week, extended her dominance in the young season by winning in the 200-meter dash final.
Senior Tenaya Jones also claimed the 60-meter hurdle title with a season-best time of 8.24 seconds.
Shaver credited extensive recruiting efforts for quality sprinters and the ability to practice on a relatively similar track for his team’s early sprinting titles.
“As a staff, we place a high emphasis on recruiting great sprinters, and the program has a tradition of having championship runners,” Shaver said. “Plus we can practice on the shorter lengths without as many issues since we don’t have the banked tracks that we run on at most other places.”
Along with the men’s triple-jump dominance, senior Melissa Ogbourne placed second for the women in the triple jump, narrowly missing the NCAA qualifying mark with a jump of 43-2 1/2 feet.
Junior All-American Michael Lauro topped his personal best with a mark of 69-6 3/4 feet to win the 35-pound weight throw. Lauro’s victory continued the Tigers’ impressive opening stretch in the weight throw on the heels of senior Walter Henning’s NCAA-leading throw at Texas A&M last weekend.
Shaver said he was pleased with the weekend’s performance and added from the goals for the meet were different than usual.
“This invitational was an opportunity for us to get people some work in different events that they don’t always run,” Shaver said. “That allows us to develop depth in all the events.”
 
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