The LSU women’s and men’s track teams continued their fast start to the 2016 season in their two days of competition in the Conference Clash: Power Five Invitational at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday and Saturday.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers combined for eight NCAA Top-10 performances, five LSU all-time Top-10 event records and 16 indoor personal-bests.
On Friday, eight Tigers and Lady Tigers qualified for the 60-meter hurdles, 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash to Saturday’s finals.
Friday’s qualifying junior sprinter Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake accomplished a personal-best in the 200-meter dash qualifying round with a time of 20.89 seconds, which beat his previous personal-record of 20.98 seconds set in his sophomore year. The Jamaica native advanced to Saturday’s final with the top time.
Mitchell-Blake was one of five Tigers to qualify in Friday’s men’s 200-meter dash event. He was joined in the final by fellow-junior sprinters Michael Cherry and Tremayne Acy. Cherry qualified third with a personal-best of 21.13 seconds and Acy came in sixth with a time of 21.26 seconds.
“We’re already starting to see performances from our athletes that will get them into the NCAA meet, and that’s very encouraging for us at this early stage,” said LSU coach Dennis Shaver in a news release. “Our men’s team today especially took a big step forward with what those guys were able to get done on the track. We’re hoping to be even better the next time we come here for the NCAA [Division I Track and Field] Championships.”
Both junior hurdler Jordan Moore and Mitchell-Blake posted qualifying times that ranked No. 2 in the NCAA on Friday. Both, then achieved personal-bests that topped the NCAA rankings on Saturday.
Moore won the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 7.69 seconds in the first final of the day.
Mitchell-Blake became the 2016 world leader in the men’s 200 meter dash event when he posted a personal-best time of 20.57 seconds to win the men’s 200-meter title.
Moore finished exactly two tenths of a second ahead of South Carolina’s Isaiah Moore, who came in second place with a time of 7.89.
“I’ve got a good base now and dropped some weight from what I was running at last year,” Jordan Moore said. “I’m just feeling really good. I honestly feel like I’m going to have a great season for myself as well as the program. Coach Shaver believes in me. “
Along with Mitchell-Blake and Moore, the Tigers and Lady Tigers continued to bring in personal-bests.
Four of LSU’s 800-meter runners left Birmingham after notching their career-best performances. LSU sophomore middle distance runner Jack Wilkes beat his preceding time of 1:50 with a career-record of 1 minute, 49.79 seconds to finish fourth in the men’s final.
Sophomore distance runner Hannah Deworth (2:11.93), sophomore middle distance runner Keterra Harris (2:15.30) and freshman middle distance runner Erika Lewis (2:15.45) also walked away with personal-bests for the Lady Tigers in the women’s 800-meter finals.
LSU sophomore hurdler Kymber Payne achieved a personal best of 56.41 in the women’s 400-meter event.
Sophomore jumper Da’Quan Bellard recorded a personal-best of 23-9 in the men’s long jump, and freshman middle distance runner Dajour Braxton posted a personal-best with 8:28.38 in the 3 kilometers run.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will compete in the Razorback Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas starting Friday.