The LSU track and field program claimed two first-place finishes Saturday at the 78th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas relays before a record 22,500 in attendance at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin.
“I think the meet was really positive for our group,” said LSU coach Mark Shaver.
Xavier Carter, Marvin Stevenson, Kelly Willie and Bennie Brazell finished the men’s 4×100-meter relay in 38.94 seconds. It was the team’s fastest time this season and the Tigers’ only first-place finish at the four-day meet. The team edged out Arizona State by two-hundredths of a second.
Willie also finished second in the men’s 100-meter dash with a personal best and school-record time of 10.11 seconds.
Kelly Baptiste earned the Lady Tigers only first-place finish in the women’s 100-meter dash invitational in 11.04 seconds and defeated two Olympians in the process. Baptiste was eliminated from the university preliminary event Friday, but was given a second chance in the invitational group Saturday.
“I am really excited because it was a personal best,” Baptiste said. “Yesterday I was thinking too much, but today I was just focusing on myself and my lane.”
Ashley Owens finished third in the 100-meter dash university division in 11.08 seconds. Owens edged out Auburn’s Fana Ashby, who is an NCAA Champion in the 60-meter dash, by .04 seconds.
Neither Baptiste’s nor Owens’ times will be recorded officially because both times were wind-aided.
“It’s not so much the times they ran because they were not wind legal, it is the people that they beat,” Shaver said.
LSU posted at least a third-place finish in six field events.
Willie Bradley finished third in the men’s triple jump Saturday with a season best and regional qualifying mark of 51-feet-9-inches.
Matt Vincent and Pat Perrien both posted third-place finishes and regional qualifying marks in throwing events. Vincent hoisted the shot put 54-feet-7.25-inches, while Perrien launched the javelin for a personal best 206-feet-8-inches.
The Lady Tigers earned their top-three finishes in jumping events.
Tina Harris earned a second-place finish in the women’s long jump Friday with a personal best and regional qualifying mark of 21-feet-2-inches.
Shontae Harris and Megan Akre tied for third place in the women’s high jump, clearing the bar at 5-feet-7-inches.
“We still are not quite where we want to be,” Shaver said. “We need to show some steady and consistent improvement in the field events. I see the effort there. It is just a mater of the athletes making a break through.”