LSU sophomore Nataliyah Friar set a new lifetime personal record to win the NCAA bronze medal in the women’s long jump and lead the LSU track and field team on day one of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Friar soared 21 feet to capture third place and score the first six points of the weekend for the Lady Tigers. In the process, she earned All-American honors for the first time in her career.
Friday marked the second consecutive year Friar has qualified for the NCAA indoor final in the long jump. She missed All-American honors by one spot as a freshman in 2014 after winning ninth place.
“I was determined not to be ninth again like last year,” Friar said in a news release. “That hurt so much last year to come that close [to scoring] I knew this year I would be an All-American.”
Friar became the first Lady Tiger named an All-American in the long jump since Andrea Linton in 2008. She’s also the first to reach 21 feet in the event for LSU since 2005.
Senior sprinter Aaron Ernest qualified for the final in the men’s 200-meter dash with a time of 20.71 seconds in the second preliminary heat. The 2015 Southeastern Conference champion and previous All-American in the event will seek his first 200-meter dash national title.
Senior sprinters Vernon Norwood and Quincy Downing advanced to the final in the men’s 400-meter dash to round out LSU’s finalists on the day.
Norwood won the section, crossing the finish line in 46.00 seconds. Downing came in third, qualifying for the final with a time of 46.30 seconds.
LSU will have seven scoring opportunities when it returns to the track Saturday, with four for the men and three for the women. The second day of the competition begins at 3:45 p.m. with the first finals on the track scheduled for 6:50 p.m.