Muna Lee saved her best for last.
Lee clocked a personal record to finish second in the 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials Sunday, becoming the fifth LSU athlete to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team.
Lee, who missed the cut in the 100 meters the week before, ran a 22.36 in the last race of the two week Trials to earn one of the final spots on the U.S. team.
Her former teammate Stephanie Durst also ran in the 200-meter final, but did not make the cut, finishing eighth with a time of 22.99.
Lee, who finished her college career in June, will be joined by four other current and former LSU athletes on the U.S. team. The five LSU athletes is the most ever on a U.S. Olympic team. LSU had three athletes representing the U.S. in both the 1936 and 1992 Games.
The five Tigers on the U.S. team will be joined in Athens 13 international LSU athletes who have qualified to represent their countries.
After the Trials most of the Tigers were still trying to come to grips with their Olympic dreams.
“It’s been a dream come true,” said former LSU track great John Moffitt, who qualified in the long jump. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet that I made it. I guess as the days go on and we get closer and closer to it, it will probably sink in.”
Bennie Brazell, who qualified in the 400-meter hurdles, said he still could not believe he would be competing in the Olympics. “It’s a good accomplishment, but it hasn’t really hit me yet,” Brazell said. “I feel like I’m just here still working.”
Brazell turned in one of the best performances of his career at the trials. The junior broke his own school record of 48.80 with a time of 48.52 in the semifinals. He then bested that mark the next day with a time of 48.05 in the event final.
“The competition was great, but I feel like I’ve been out here working hard, me and Kelly [Willie] have been out here working hard against each other, competing and I felt that was what got me ready for the trial,” Brazell said.
Brazell became the second LSU athletes to make the U.S. team that day. Moffitt qualified an hour before with a third place showing in the long jump.
Moffitt, the 2004 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Champion in the long jump, said he feels good about his chances in
Athens.
“I feel really good,” Moffitt said. “If I can just go out there and do what I’ve done all season, good things will happen. I’ve just got to stay focused.”
Former teammate Walter Davis, who made his second Olympics team in the triple jump, will join Moffitt in Athens. Davis, who finished 11th at the 200 Games in Sydney, jumped a season best 57-10 1/4 to finish second behind Melvin Lister’s 58-4.
Davis just missed the cut in the long jump, finishing third behind Moffitt with a distance of 25-11 1/2.
Former LSU great Derrick Brew also qualified in the 400 meters. Brew, a two-time world champion in the 1600-meter relay, ran a 44.69 to finish third in the event.
LSU sophomore Kelly Willie also competed in the 400 meters, but fell short of an Olympic bid. Willie clocked in at 44.97 in the event finals to finish seventh.