The LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams competed this weekend in the Rod McCravy Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky.
The first day of events yielded several personal bests for the Tigers, most notably for senior Rodney Brown and sophomore Jada Martin. Martin started the day for the Tigers by earning first place in the women’s 200-meter dash and setting her personal best of 23.44 seconds.
Toward the end of the day, Brown answered with a personal best in the men’s weight throw. Brown’s hurl of 68 feet 6.5 inches clinched a second-place finish.
Senior Vernon Norwood earned the only other event victory for the Tigers, but sophomore Tremayne Acy nearly won a third race in the men’s 200-meter dash.
Norwood’s time of 1:08.84 was good enough for victory in the men’s 600-yard race, while Acy missed out on first place by less than three-tenths of a second.
“What a great way for us to start the weekend with the competitive spirit we showed,” said LSU coach Dennis Shaver in a news release. “You can tell we’re starting to make strides as a team with each opportunity we have to compete.”
Day two of the invitational was highlighted by LSU senior Tori Bliss breaking her own school record and NCAA leading mark by throwing 57 feet 4.75 inches in women’s shot put.
After finishing as the NCAA Outdoor national runner-up in shot put last season, Bliss has emerged as the favorite to win the women’s indoor title and has accounted for the top four shot put marks in the nation this season.
Bliss was the only Tiger to finish in first place in an event on day two, but several other athletes were in contention for their event titles.
Senior Quincy Downing ran the fourth-fastest time in the nation in the men’s 400-meter race, finishing third with a time of 46.74.
Downing was also part of the men’s 4×400-meter relay team’s second-place finish. The reigning NCAA Indoor champion team — consisting of Downing, Norwood, junior Darrell Bush and junior Cyril Grayson — ran the second-fastest time in the nation and finished six-hundredths of a second behind Florida.
Sophomore Morgan Schuetz — the reigning Southeastern Conference Women’s Runner of the Week and the No. 1 women’s 800-meter runner — finished in third place behind Florida’s Claudia Francis and Baylor’s Olicia Williams.
“It is important for us to build on each competition with the way we prepare and in the way we compete as a team, and I am pleased with the way our athletes approached the meet this weekend,” Shaver said. “It’s important for us to take the steps necessary to be where we want to be as a team when we go to the [Southeastern Conference] and NCAA Championships in the coming weeks.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will be back in action at the Razorback Invitational on Jan. 30-31 at the Randall Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
You can reach Jacob Hamilton on Twitter @jhamilton_TDR.