GAINESVILLE, Fla. LSU track and field All-American Peta-Gaye Dowdie opened defense of her NCAA indoor 200-meter title Sunday afternoon, stealing the national lead in the event, highlighting a strong day for LSU at the Gator Invitational at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.
Dowdie blew away the field in the 200-meter dash, registering an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 23.48 seconds. She became the nation’s first automatic qualifier in the women’s 200.
In what was billed as the premier track and field meet in the nation this weekend with five of the top 11 teams in the nation on the men’s side on hand and three of the top 10 women’s teams on hand, the Gator Invitational turned in seven national-leading marks on the day.
Dowdie was the only LSU athlete to grab the national lead in an event, but several other Tigers moved up on the list significantly on Sunday. The Tigers and Lady Tigers combined to register two NCAA automatic qualifiers and eight provisional marks.
“We got a couple of automatic qualifiers today and a good number of personal records,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “We’re real close on making a breakthrough with a few more athletes. Overall, we expected to accomplish a lot today and we did.”
Joyce Bates finished second in the 55-meter hurdles to Vonette Dixon of Auburn in a race that yielded the top two times in the nation this season. Bates got out of the blocks well and led after three hurdles, but Dixon pulled away to victory over the last 20 meters in a time of 7.55, while Bates finished just behind at 7.63.
Marcus Thomas continued his torrid pace to open the season by winning the triple jump and finishing second in the long jump. His winning jump of 53-3 in triple jump moved him to the second spot in the nation. His 25-1 1/4 effort in the long jump was just off his season best and marked the second straight week he registered a provisional mark in the event.
Derrick Brew came within .08 of breaking the nine-year-old LSU indoor 400-meter record, with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 46.74, the third fastest time in the nation this year. Brew finished second to 1998 NCAA champion Brandon Couts of Baylor who blew away the national lead with a blazing 46.18.
Brew then led off the Tigers’ 4×400-meter relay group that ran a provisional time of 3:09.59 to win their heat and finish second overall to a Baylor team that added yet another national leading time to the afternoon.
Duryell Patterson took the stick from Brew on the second leg. Wynand Dempers took the Tigers from second to the lead on the third leg by running a patient quarter, closing in on his target in the final 50 meters. Lueroy Colquhoun then held off Clemson on the anchor to win the heat. The time moved the Tigers to the second spot in the nation in the event and was the fastest indoor time by an LSU team since 1996.
Keisha Spencer further solidified her claim as the nation’s premier women’s triple jumper with a solid winning effort of 45-4 1/4, just off her national leading mark set on Jan. 15. Spencer also went provisional in her second place finish in the long jump with a personal best mark of 20-7 3/4.
Sa’Donna Thornton registered her fourth straight provisional qualifier in the short sprint, finishing second to Tanya Carter of Florida State in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.91. Carter took over the national lead in the short sprint with her winning time of 6.77.
In the women’s 800-meter run, LSU’s Claudine Williams began defense of her NCAA title, but failed to complete her first attempt this season in the half mile after taking an awkward step at the 500 meter mark. Williams injury was not serious and the senior All-American was prepared to line up for the women’s 4×400 meter relay, but Henry and his staff opted against using her as a precaution.
LSU returns to action next week at the Frank Sevigne Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., on Friday and Saturday.
Gator Invitational
February 6, 2000
Stephen C. O’Connell Center
Gainesville, Fla.
Men’s Results
Track Events
55-Meter Dash- 1, Coby Miller, Auburn, 6.13. 2, John Capel, Florida, 6.18. 3(tie), Bernard Williams, Florida, Ricardo Shaw, unattached, 6.20. 5, Marcel Carter, Gator Alumni, 6.26. 6, Gerald Clervill, Gator Alumni, 6.29.
200-Meter Dash- 1, Coby Miller, Auburn, 20.88. 2, Shawn Crawford, 20.91. 3, John Capel, Florida, 21.05. 4, Aaron Armstrong, Florida, 21.19. 5, Bernard Williams, Florida, 21.32. 6, Marcel Carter, Gator Alumni, 21.33.
400-Meter Dash- 1, Brandon Couts, Baylor, 46.18. 2, Derrick Brew, LSU, 46.74. 3, Otto Spain, Clemson, 47.51. 4, Sanjay Ayre, Auburn, 47.70. 5, Floyd Thompson, Baylor, 47.74. 6, Gerald Clervil, Gator Alumni, 47.75
800-Meter Run- 1, Aaron Richberg, Auburn, 1:50.17. 2, Moses Gathuka, Auburn, 1:50.47. 3, Ali Abiola, 1:51.01. 4, Brenson Mahoney, Georgia Tech, 1:51.21. 5, Maarte Van Den Hauvel, Florida State, 1:52.83. 6, Fred Sharp, Clemson, 1:53.03.
Mile- 1, Chris Duncan, Florida, 4:08.46. 2, Brad Hansen, Auburn, 4:10.19. 3, Courtney Chambers, 4:10.57. 4, Frans Schimper, LSU, 4:13.97. 5, Jon Capron, Baylor, 4:14.69. 6, Rolando Ortiz, Florida, 4:16.50.
55-Meter Hurdles- 1, Sultan Tucker, Clemson, 7.21. 2, Stephen Jones, Florida, 7.34. 3, Charles, Clemson, 7.36. 4, John Buscema, Florida, 7.42. 5 (tie), Torrence Zellner, unattached, Steve Brown, unattached, 7.45.
4×400 meter relay- 1, Baylor, 3:07.69. 2, LSU, 3:09.59. 3, Clemson, 3:10.01. 4, Auburn, 3:10.68. 5, Florida, 3:11.93. 6, Baylor “B”, 3:15.46.
Field Events
Long Jump- 1, Maurice Lewis, Florida, 26-3. 2, Marcus Thomas, LSU, 25-1 3/4. 3, Clayton Porter, Georgia Tech, 24-4 1/4. 4, Kai Maull, Clemson, 24-1 +. 5, Daymon Carroll, Florida, 23-7 +. 6, Osbourne Moxey, Auburn, 23-7 +.
High Jump- 1, David Furman, Florida, 7-2 +. 2, Marcus Swiat, Baylor, 7-0 +. 3, J.J. Barton, LSU, 6-10 3/4. 4, Doug Ameigh, Clemson, 6-10 3/4. 5, Casey Clark, Arizona State, 6-10 3/4. 6, Sherman Harnese, Baylor, 6-8 3/4.
Triple Jump- 1, Marcus Thomas, LSU, 53-3. 2, Dwight Phillips, Arizona State, 52-3 3/4. 3, Maurice Lewis, Florida, 51-4 1/4. 4, Bryan Williams, Clemson, 50-5 1/4. 5, Malcolm Leason, Georgia Tech, 50-2. 6, Will Mizell, Florida, 49-3 3/4.
Shot Put- 1, Christian Nehme, LSU, 56-1 3/4. 2, Alex Forst, LSU, 55-5. 3, Adam Bishop, unattached, 52-11. 4, Arperge Rolle, Florida, 52-10 1/4. 5, Chris Vanderbrink, unattached, 51-7. 6, Donald Heaven, Florida State, 51-2 1/4.
35-Lb.Weight Throw- 1, Bert Sorin, unattached, 68-51/4. 2, Brian Woessner, Florida, 62-1. 3 (tie), Gabor Mate, Auburn, Isiah Oglesby, North Carolina State, 58-10 1/4. 5 (tie), Javier Nieto, LSU, Reedus Thurmond, Auburn, 58-7 1/4.
Women’s Results
Track Events
55-Meter Dash- 1, Tonya Carter, Florida State, 6.77. 2 (tie), Sa’Donna Thornton, LSU, Keisha Jett, unattached, 6.91. 4 (tie), Heather Sumpter, Tennessee, Wyellesheia Myrick, Miami (Fla.),6.94. 6, Sasha Springer, South Florida, 7.03.
200-Meter Dash- 1, Peta-Gaye Dowdie, LSU, 23.48. 2, Vonette Dixon, Auburn, 24.05. 3, Wyllesheia Myrick, Miami (Fla.), 24.20. 4, Myra Combs, 24.33. 5, Sasha Springer, South Florida, 24.44. 6, Tamarca Johnson, Baylor, 24.50.
400-Meter Dash- 1, Faith Rein, Florida, 54.08. 2, Yolanda Brown-Moore, Florida, 54.32. 3, Lesly Love, Tennessee, 54.67. 4, Barbara Petrahn, Baylor, 54.72. 5, LaShorda Cutchin, Clemson, 55.20. 6, Valma Bass, LSU, 55.65.
800-Meter Run- 1, Kim Voyticy, unattached, 2:05.68. 2, Tamieka Grizzle, Florida, 2:06.65. 3, Sara Pardue, Georgia Tech, 2:07.21. 4, Natalie Watson, Miami (Fla.), 2:09.97. 5, Danika Dodds, Miami (Fla.), 2:09.97. 6, Sonja Friend-Uhl, unattached, 2:11.01.
Mile- 1, Sonja Friend-Uhl, unattached, 4:44.88. 2, Erin Merten, Florida, 4:51.65. 3, Ramona Saridakis, Florida, 4:57.86. 4, Martina Barkman, LSU, 4:58.19. 5, Rita Arndt, South Florida, 4:58.47. 6, Adrea Dempsey, South Florida, 4:58.77.
55-Meter Hurdles- 1, Vonette Dixon, Auburn, 7.55. 2, Joyce Bates, 7.63. 3, Monifa Taylor, unattached, 7.72. 4, Patrina Allen, unattached, 7.73. 5, Damu Cherry, South Florida, 7.89. 6, Kyana Elder, Clemson, 7.93.
1,600-Meter Relay- 1, Florida, 3:38.04. 2, Baylor, 3:40.47. 3, Florida State, 3:40.69. 4, Miami, 3:41.21. 5, Arizona State, 3:43.35. 6, Florida International, 3:49.53.
Field Events
Long Jump- 1, Tiffany Greer, Arizona State, 20-9. 2, Keisha Spencer, LSU, 20-7 3/4. 3, Valerie Williams, Arizona State, 19-11. 4 (tie), Kareen Clarke, Miami, Keene Black, South Florida, 19-8 3/4. 6, Jernae Wright, Florida, 19-6.
Triple Jump- 1, Keisha Spencer, LSU, 45-4 1/4. 2, Natasha Gibson, 43-7 1/4. 3, Keene Black, South Florida, 42-11. 4, Kareen Clarke, Miami (Fla), 42-8. 5, Antonnikka Owens, Miami (Fla.), 42-0 3/4. 6, Chinette Johnson, Florida State, 41-9 1/4.
High Jump- 1, Nakeitra Jones, Auburn, 5-9 3/4. 2, Lynn Houston, unattached, 5-8. 3, Kathy Kilar, Florida, 5-8. 4, Farah Jean-Pierre, Florida International, 5-6. 5 (tie), Jamie Ostrov, Georgia Tech, Michaela Steele, Florida State, 5-4 1/4.
Shot Put- 1, Andrea Pappas, 49-5. 2, Stacy Martin, Auburn,49-0 1/4. 3, Lakeisha Mose, Florida State, 47-3 3/4. 4, Emily Carlsten, Florida, 46-2 +. 5, Adrienne Moss, Miami (Fla.), 45-3 +. 6, Louise Beatrice, Auburn, 44-8 3/4.
20-lb. Weight Throw- 1, Lakeisha Mose, Florida State, 59-1 1/4. 2, Patricia Hall, South Florida, 54-3 3/4. 3, Angela Jones, LSU, 54-0. 4, Stacy Martin, Auburn, 53-9. 5, Andrea Pappas, Tennessee, 51-5. 6, Louise Beatrice, Auburn, 50-8.
Pole Vault- 1, Laura Hawkins, Florida, 11-10 3/4. 2,, Lindsay Adkins, Florida State, 11-7. 3, Joara Costa, Clemson,11-7. 4, Bridgett Allen, Florida, 11-3. 5, Andrea Saizano, Florida, 10-11. 6(tie), Wendy Pedley, Miami (Fla.), Elaine Drevitson, South Florida, 10-5 1/4..