Senior Vernon Norwood turned in the NCAA’s fastest time this season in the 400-meter dash as the LSU track and field teams defended their home track with multiple event victories and personal bests at the LSU Alumni Gold Meet on Saturday.
Norwood made his season debut in the 400-meter and raced to the finish line in 44.44 seconds after leading for a majority of the race. The defending outdoor bronze medalist in the event said he wanted to get off to a good start to set up a solid final season in in Baton Rouge.
“I felt I had that kind of time in me, but I was surprised to run that in a season opener,” Norwood said in a news release. “We put in a lot of hard work as a group in training, and it’s nice to see that hard work paying off.”
Norwood also helped lead the Tigers to victory in the 4×400 meter relay. He teamed with juniors Cyril Grayson and Darrell Bush and senior Quincy Downing to win the race in 3:02.79 seconds, the third-fastest relay effort in the NCAA this season.
Downing was one of six LSU athletes to make the NCAA’s top 10 rankings as he earned first place in the 400-meter hurdles. Downing broke the tape in 49.91 seconds for a new personal best.
Senior Rodney Brown won the discus title with a throw of 208 feet, three inches. He remains the only collegiate athlete to exceed 200 feet in the event this season.
Sophomore Jada Martin led the way for the Lady Tigers winning the women’s 100 meter-dash with a time of 11.34, a new personal best and the No. 5 time in NCAA this season. Freshman Aleia Hobbs won the silver medal in the event with a time of 11.40 seconds, the No. 9 ranked effort in the NCAA.
Sophomore Morgan Schuetz won the women’s 1500 meters with a personal best time of 4:22.83, and sophomore Nataliyah Friar won the women’s long jump after soaring 20 feet, 7 ¼ inches for her personal best.
“It really was an outstanding day across the board for both of our teams,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver in a news release. “We saw some performances today that are as good as you’ll see at this level this season. We’ve really set ourselves up for a strong finish to the regular season with just two meets to prepare for the championship season.”
LSU will head to Philadelphia next weekend to compete in the Penn Relays, which will be held April 23 through 25 at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania.
You can follow Mario Jerez on Twitter @MJerezIII.