BATON ROUGE- Behind strong performances from Chenelle Marshall and Greg Scott, the LSU track and field team looked sharp in its final tune-up before next weekend’s Southeastern Conference Championships at the LSU Twilight Friday evening.
Marshall virtually assured herself a spot in the NCAA Indoor Championships with a breakthrough performance in the women’s long jump, claiming the title with a personal best leap of 20 feet 8 inches, while Scott improved his NCAA provisional status in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.82 seconds.
“We got a lot accomplished tonight,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “We were a little reserved in some areas but showed tremendous improvement in others. We did some things tonight that will carry over as the conference meet rolls around next week. Chenelle’s performance is a big breakthrough for her and in Greg’s case, the key was consistency and he was able to put together two solid races.”
Scott blew through the men’s short hurdles field in the preliminary round, running his indoor personal best time of 7.82. In the finals, he won with ease, running just off his preliminary time, clocking a 7.83.
In addition, several Tigers proved that they are ready for next week’s conference meet with strong performances heading into the league championship.
Peta-Gaye Dowdie continued her undefeated season, as she blazed to victory in the 60-meter dash for the second consecutive week. Dowdie won the final in a time of 7.36 seconds. Teammate Sa’Donna Thornton finished second in a time of 7.40 seconds, but improved her NCAA provisional qualifying status with a time of 7.36 in the prelims.
Joyce Bates finished second in the 60-meter hurdles, but continued to look impressive. Bates finished second to former LSU All-American Astia Walker who won the event in a time of 8.16 to the 8.18 run by Bates.
Other winners for LSU on Friday night were Christian Nehme in the men’s shot and Jill Lipp in the women’s shot put.
LSU returns to action next weekend at the SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The Lady Tigers are two-time defending champions and have won four of the last five titles, while the men finished sixth in Gainesville, Fla., a year ago.