The LSU track and field team capped its spring break holiday with two meets in California in cold conditions less than ideal for track meets. Coach Pat Henry said the Tigers were still able to compete with some of the nation’s finest athletes.
“Any time you’re among the best in your sport, you get to compete against the great ones,” Henry said. “We had a lot of personal bests on a cold meet Friday at the Pomona-Pitzer meet, and we had some good things happen Saturday at Mount SAC.”
Henry said freshman Kelly Willie was impressive this weekend. Willie helped the Tigers post a first place finish in the 4×100-meter relay to set a meet record 40.03 seconds on Friday at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational track and field meet in Claremont, Calif. He also had a second-place showing in the 400-meter dash, in which he was the only amateur runner, with a time of 45.62 seconds Saturday at the Mount SAC relays in Walnut, Calif.
Willie said he was pleased with the time he posted even if he did finish second to Nike athlete Corey Wilson, who posted a time of 45.55 seconds.
“It was a good experience to see what I’m capable of doing,” Willie said. “I wanted to run a time of 45.5 or 45.6 so regardless of what I placed, I feel good about the race.”
Bennie Brazell, who ran the anchor leg for the Tigers on the 4X100-meter relay, also won the 400-meter hurdles for LSU in 50.53 seconds on Friday at Pomona.
The LSU ‘B’ team composed of Tomario Thomas, Marlon Greensword, Jamaison Carter and Jeffery Fisher also brought the Tigers a first place finish in the 4×400-meter relay. The group finished with a time of 3:12.44, almost two seconds ahead of San Francisco State’s ‘A’ team, which finished with a time of 3:14.14.
Robert Parham placed sixth in the 200-meter dash and qualified for the NCAA Regionals meet Saturday at the Mount SAC Relays.
The Tigers also had two first place finishes on the field portion of the meet Friday.
LSU swept the top three places in the long jump as John Moffit led the Tigers with a jump of 25 feet 6 1/4 inches. Traun Smith and LeJuan Simon placed second and third for the Tigers with jumps of 24-0 3/4 and 23-11, respectively.
Taylor Bobo and Luke Kinnard took the first two places for the Tigers in the javelin throw. Bobo won the event with a distance of 212-04, while Kinnard placed second with a mark of 207-10.
The top-ranked Lady Tigers also made their mark in California with more than a handful of first place finishes in the two meets.
LSU had four first place finishes at the Pomona-Pitzer meet Friday.
RaNysha LeBlanc and Stephanie Butler took the top two spots in the 200-meter dash. LeBlanc finished .05 seconds ahead of Butler with a time of 24.44 seconds.
Zamyal Jackson and LeBlanc finished first and second for the Lady Tigers in the 100-meter hurdles. The two finished .02 seconds apart, as Jackson took first in 13.68 seconds.
LaToya Payne took first place in the long jump with a jump of 20-03 1/2, while Ashley Gardner placed third in the event. Gardner also place first in the triple jump with a distance of 40-09.
The Lady Tigers made a couple of marks on the LSU record books on Saturday at the Mount SAC Relays.
Hazel Ann Regis, Neisha Bernard-Thomas, Monique Hall and Nadia Davy finished first in the 4×400-meter relay in 3:29.39. The time is the third-best in school history.
Regis also finished first in the 400-meter dash in 51.68 seconds.
Althea Thomas finished in third place for the Lady Tigers in the 400-meter hurdles. Her time of 58.30 seconds is the sixth-best in school history.